- A coalition of 23 Republican AGs, led by Arkansas AG Tim Griffin, filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in American Securities Association v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission asking the court to find that the SEC lacks the authority to create the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) database of investors and trading activity.
- In the brief, the AGs argue that the CAT—which would house personal information regarding retail investors and real-time information on investment decisions—threatens the privacy of investors by exposing that data both to government employees and as a target for hackers. They argue that Congress has not given the SEC authority to construct this database, and even if it did, the SEC’s decision to create CAT was arbitrary and capricious.
- The AGs urge the court to set aside the SEC’s 2023 order approving the CAT.