Securities and Exchange Commission v. Dresser Industries, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
628 F.2d 1368 (D.C. Cir. 1980)
The SEC investigated whether Dresser Industries (defendant) falsified financial records to conceal bribes to foreign officials, and after Dresser voluntarily submitted documents to the SEC, the SEC shared them with the Department of Justice, which brought the matter before a grand jury; both the SEC and the grand jury then issued subpoenas to Dresser. Dresser separately sued to enjoin the SEC and DOJ from continuing their coordinated investigation, arguing the SEC could not use its civil discovery process to aid a criminal investigation, and also resisted enforcement of the SEC subpoena itself; the district court ruled for the SEC on both fronts, and Dresser appealed.
Whether the Securities Act of 1933 and Securities Exchange Act of 1934 permit the SEC to share the fruits of its investigations with other government agencies, and whether an agency subpoena remains enforceable against a company also under grand jury investigation where no indictment has issued, no Fifth Amendment privilege is at stake, criminal discovery rules do not yet apply, the subpoena does not require disclosing the basis of the party's defense, and the public has a strong interest in prompt resolution of the civil matter.