ANALYSIS: AMG Holding Still Has FTC Scrambling as Footing Shifts

In April 2021, the US Supreme Court held 9–0 that the FTC Act Section 13(b) doesn’t authorize the Federal Trade Commission to seek equitable monetary relief in cases brought in federal court.

Before the court’s holding in the case, AMG Capital Management, LLC v. FTC, the FTC had been, for decades, seeking and winning disgorgement against those that federal courts found had committed fraudulent and unfair trade practices.

The FTC could regain its Section 13(b) authority through a legislative “fix.” But there isn’t a guarantee that amending the FTC Act would be a one-and-done solution.

That’s because the ...