The Supreme Court, in a unanimous opinion authored by Justice Breyer, overruled the 9th Circuit and held that Section 13(b) of the FTC act does not authorize the Commission to seek, or a court to award, equitable monetary relief such as restitution or disgorgement.
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Court unanimously invalidates the FTC s long-held
view that FTC Act Section 13(b) implicitly authorizes restitution
or disgorgement of unlawfully obtained profits.
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in
AMG Capital
Management v. FTC that Federal Trade Commission Act
( FTCA ) Section 13(b) does not authorize the FTC to
obtain monetary remedies such as restitution or disgorgement. The
Court s decision is a significant setback for the FTC,
particularly in consumer protection matters, where Section 13(b)
monetary relief is among the FTC s primary tools. The ruling
also affects antitrust enforcement in the pharmaceutical industry,
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On April 22, 2021, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision
prohibiting the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from using its
preferred tool for regulating marketplace misconduct. The Court
held that Section 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA),
which allows the FTC to seek injunctive relief in federal court,
does not extend to monetary relief in the form of restitution or
disgorgement.
Sections 5 and 19 of the FTCA have long been used by the FTC to
seek monetary damages through administrative proceedings. Section
13(b) gives the FTC the power to seek injunctive relief in federal
We blogged last October
(here) about the Third Circuit’s decision in
FTC v. AbbieVie Inc., holding that Section 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which expressly gives the FTC authority to obtain injunctive relief, does not allow a district court to order disgorgement or restitution. We also noted that the Supreme Court had granted certiorari to hear an appeal of the 9
th Circuit’s decision in
AMG Capital Management, LLC v. FTC, where the 9
th Circuit upheld the Commission’s right to seek equitable monetary remedies pursuant to Section 13(b) of the FTC Act, while the 3
rd and 7
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