| Electric Bond and Share Company v. Securities & Exchange Commission | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued Feb. 7–9, 1938 Decided March 28, 1938 | |
| Full case name | Electric Bond and Share Company et al. v. Securities & Exchange Commission et al. |
| Docket no. | 636 |
| Citations | 303 U.S. 419 (more) |
| Case history | |
| Prior | 18 F. Supp. 131 (S.D.N.Y. 1937); affirmed, 92 F.2d 580 (2d Cir. 1937); cert. granted, 302 U.S. 681 (1938). |
| Holding | |
| The requirement for registration of holding companies under the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 is legal. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Hughes, joined by Brandeis, Butler, Stone, Roberts, Black |
| Dissent | McReynolds |
| Cardozo, Reed took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
Electric Bond Share Company v. Securities & Exchange Commission, 303 U.S. 419 (1938), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court upheld the constitutionality of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935.[1]
On March 28, 1938, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the constitutional dispute between the Electric Bond and Share Company and the SEC over the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935.[2] The Act gave the SEC authority to regulate electric companies nationwide and enforce its rules. It required that all companies selling gas and electricity in the United States register with the SEC and restricted holding companies to one or two tiers of subsidiaries. The Act also gave the SEC the power to limit holding companies to a geographic area so that individual states could regulate them.
After the Act was signed into law on August 26, 1935, the electric industry contested the validity of the entire act, 15 U.S.C.A. § 79 et seq., as being in excess of the powers granted to Congress by section 8 of article 1, and in violation of section 1 of article 1 and of the Fifth and Tenth Amendments, of the Constitution of the United States.
On November 26, 1935, the SEC filed its test case in the District Court for the Southern District of New York against the Electric Bond and Share Company (EBASCo). Fourteen of EBASCo's subsidiaries were also petitioners in the case.[3]
- ^ Electric Bond & Share Co. v. Securities & Exchange Comm'n, 303 U.S. 419 (1938).
- ^ "HOLDING FIRM ACT IS DECLARED VALID BY HIGH COURT. 6-1". Library of Congress. Washington D.C. Evening Star. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
- ^ "Electric Bond Share Company v. Securities and Exchange Commission/Opinion of the Court". wikisource. Retrieved September 3, 2019.