The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC v. SEC (ORDER) ( 2021 )


Menu:
  •                       United States Court of Appeals
    FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT
    ____________
    No. 21-1050                                                      September Term, 2020
    SEC-86FR18596
    SEC-Rel34-90610
    Filed On: June 15, 2021
    The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC, et al.,
    Petitioners
    v.
    Securities and Exchange Commission,
    Respondent
    ------------------------------
    Consolidated with 21-1051, 21-1053,
    21-1100, 21-1101, 21-1102
    BEFORE:           Rogers, Millett, and Wilkins, Circuit Judges
    ORDER
    Upon consideration of the motion to dismiss Nos. 21-1050, 21-1051, and
    21-1053, and the opposition thereto, it is
    ORDERED that the motion to dismiss be granted. “A person adversely affected
    by a rule of the [Securities and Exchange] Commission . . . may obtain review” by filing,
    “within sixty days after the promulgation of the rule, a written petition requesting that the
    rule be set aside.” 15 U.S.C. § 78y(b)(1) (emphasis added). This court has adopted a
    “default rule” that “[i]f [an] agency does not define the term by regulation and if the
    statute supports (or at least does not foreclose) the interpretation, ‘promulgation’ is
    accorded its ‘ordinary meaning’—i.e., publication in the Federal Register.” Horsehead
    Res. Dev. Co. v. EPA, 
    130 F.3d 1090
    , 1093 (D.C. Cir. 1997). In addition, as we ruled in
    Horsehead Resource Development, 
    130 F.3d at 1092
    , and Western Union Telegraph
    Co. v. FCC, 
    773 F.2d 375
    , 377 (D.C. Cir. 1985), Congress’s formulation of the filing
    time period as “within sixty days” creates a filing window, not a mere deadline. As a
    result, jurisdiction is lacking over petitions that were filed too early—that is, before
    promulgation in the Federal Register—as well as those filed more than sixty days after
    promulgation in the Federal Register. Because the court has not previously applied this
    rule to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. § 78a, et seq., in a published
    order, this order is being published.
    United States Court of Appeals
    FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT
    ____________
    No. 21-1050                                                September Term, 2020
    Neither the Exchange Act nor the regulations promulgated thereunder define the
    term “promulgation,” and the term therefore refers to publication in the Federal
    Register. Here, the petitions for review in Nos. 21-1050, 21-1051, and 21-1053 were
    filed before the rule in question was published in the Federal Register and thus before
    the rule was promulgated. Accordingly, the court lacks jurisdiction over the petitions for
    review filed in Nos. 21-1050, 21-1051, and 21-1053, and they must be dismissed. See
    Horsehead Resource Development, 
    130 F.3d at 1095
    .
    The Clerk is directed to publish this order and to withhold issuance of the
    mandate in Nos. 21-1050, 21-1051, and 21-1053 until seven days after resolution of
    any timely petition for rehearing or petition for rehearing en banc. See Fed. R. App. P.
    41(b); D.C. Cir. Rule 41.
    Per Curiam
    FOR THE COURT:
    Mark J. Langer, Clerk
    BY:     /s/
    Daniel J. Reidy
    Deputy Clerk
    Page 2