U.S. Sec. & Exch. Comm. v. Lines Overseas Mgmt., Ltd.
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
2007 WL 581909 (2007)
- Written by Serena Lipski, JD
Facts
Lines Overseas Management, Ltd. (LOM) (defendant) was a financial-services corporation in Bermuda that conducted business with United States securities markets. LOM had no United States offices, but it maintained brokerage accounts with United States brokerage firms, placing trades with the firms and providing other functions related to those trades. Scott Lines (defendant), a Bermuda citizen and resident, was an LOM officer. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) (plaintiff) issued administrative investigative subpoenas to produce documents and submit to depositions in connection with securities violations by LOM and Lines. The SEC served the subpoenas personally on Lines while he was at an airport in Miami traveling back to Bermuda after seeking medical care in Boston. Neither LOM nor Lines complied with the subpoenas, and in federal court in the District of Columbia, the SEC filed an application for an order to show cause and an order requiring obedience. In support, the SEC submitted many records of Lines’s and LOM’s telephone, email, and mail contacts with individuals and entities in the United States making representations regarding securities and buying and selling thousands of United States securities, which was the conduct that formed the grounds for the SEC’s investigation. Lines and LOM argued that because they did not have any minimum physical contacts with the District of Columbia, the court did not have personal jurisdiction over them. Lines made a blanket denial of conducting business in the United States or maintaining purposeful contacts with the United States. After holding a hearing and reviewing the evidence, the magistrate ordered Lines and LOM to comply with the subpoenas. Lines and LOM objected.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Roberts, J.)
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