For years, self-regulatory agencies (like FINRA or the Exchanges) have wielded the statutory authority granted them by Congress - and backed by the SEC - exercising governmental power to compel testimony, impose fines and punishments, and even bar a person or firm from an entire industry.
At the same time, they declaim that they're just membership organizations, so don't owe anyone Constitutional protections (like Fifth Amendment Due Process) and aren't subject to Equal Access to Justice Act claims for your litigation expenses when they lose.
So SROs essentially are the ...
Affirming dismissal of some lingering Morgan Keegan bond fund actions, the Sixth Circuit joined the Second in holding that American Pipe class-action tolling does not affect the expiration of a statute of repose. The Court reasoned that, whether equitable or procedural, American Pipe cannot supersede the substantive extinction of a legal right by repose. The Tenth Circuit has held that American Pipe tolls statutes of repose pending class certification. Joseph v. Wiles, 223 F. 3d 1155 (10th Cir. 2000). The Second Circuit said not. Police & Fire Ret. Sys. Of City of Detroit v. IndyMac ...