Nina Grabowiecki
FI 301-007
Mr. Clements
03/29/2021
Finance Law Paper
Financial law is the regulation of the different branches of finance such as insurance,
derivatives, commercial banking, capital markets, investment management sectors, stock sales,
bonds, and just about anything else that involves a financial transaction. The regulation of finance
law is crucial to our economy and society as a whole. Without it there would be no legal framework
within the system and our small business owners and individual investors financial interests would
not be protected. Nine significant cases have been researched to get a deeper understanding of our
financial law system and to discuss the reasoning why the case was brought to the Supreme Court,
the vote and decision made, and any other dissent or concurrence about the case.
The first case began with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) starting an
investigation on Seila Law, a law firm based in California that provided debt-relief services to
clients. The CFPB was suspicious Seila Law was violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule, which
is a list of rules a telemarketer must follow (such as to not call again if a consumer asks). The
CFPB issued a civil demand to the law firm requiring a response to several of their questions and
documents, but the firm denied their request. The Bureau then took the case to the district court
where Seila Law was ordered to comply with the CFPB demands. Seila Law appealed the court’s
order and argued the CFPB is unconstitutional due to it being an independent agency run by a
single Director who uses executive power and can only be removed by the president. In a 5-4
decision the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Seila Law and determined the CFPB violated the
separation of powers principals but leaves the Bureau in place. Chief Justice John Roberts
delivered the opinion stating, “While we have previously upheld limits on the President’s removal
authority in certain contexts, we decline to do so when it comes to principal officers who, acting
alone, wield significant executive power.” There was one interesting opinion given by Justice
Elena Kagan. Her separate opinion was concurring in part and dissenting in part. She argued the
decision made the Nation seem unable to respond to new challenges but agreed the removal of
power in this situation was necessary, although not unconstitutional.
The case of Liu v. Securities and Exchange Commission involves the SEC charging
Charles Liu and Xin Wang with the defrauding of Chinese investors. The SEC believed the couple
was lying to investors and diverting their funds to overseas marketers and paying themselves large
salaries with the money of their investors. After being charged millions of dollars in fines by the
SEC, Liu challenged the SEC by saying the repayment should be offset by millions of dollars in
business expenses. With an 8–1 vote the Supreme Court’s decision rejected Liu’s argument and
