[ by Howard Haykin ]

Richard Goble, who founded North American Clearing, Inc., formerly a broker-dealer, is appealing an initial decision of an administrative law judge permanently barring him from the industry.  A federal district court had found that Mr. Goble had violated the antifraud, customer protection, and books-and-records provisions of the federal securities laws.  Those

On 5/29/12, while Mr. Goble's appeal to the SEC was pending, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court's findings that Goble had violated the customer protection and books and records provisions of the federal securities laws, but reversed the district court's finding that he had violated the antifraud provisions and remanded the case to the district court to reconsider ...  the appropriateness of the lifetime bar from the securities business it imposed on Goble," among other things.

What Comes Next.  The SEC will need to consider whether it should dismiss the proceeding against Goble.  Before the SEC begins to consider such issues, the Court requested both parties in the case to file additional briefs with the Commission on the question of whether the proceeding against Richard Goble should be dismissed.     [ SEC Litigation Opinions, 12/20/12 ]