John W. Lawton, IA Act Rel. 3513, December 13, 2012
Lawton was associated with an investment adviser and was enjoined and criminally convicted based on anti-fraud violations.
The ALJ barred him from associating with any adviser, broker, dealer, muni dealer, or transfer agent. The trial judge declined to enter bars from associating with a muni adviser or rating organization ruling that those bars were impermissibly retroactive under Landgraf v USI Film Products. Those sanctions were created by Dodd-Frank which was enacted after Lawton's conduct occurred.
The Division appealed and the Commission majority agreed that under Landgraf the muni adviser and rating agency bars were not retroactive. This was a 3-2 ruling. The dissenters promised to file opinions at a later date.
Lexisnexis
