Securities Regulation Daily Wrap Up, SUPREME COURT NEWS—Supreme Court begins 2025 Term, denies petitions in two financial services cases, (Oct 6, 2025)

By Thomas G. Wolfe, J.D.

The Court declined to review a Fifth Circuit decision upholding a company executive’s criminal conviction for making a “false statement” to a bank, and declined to review a Ninth Circuit decision recognizing a consumer’s standing to maintain his FDCPA claim.

In kicking off its 2025 Term, the U.S. Supreme Court has decided to deny petitions for a writ of certiorari in two cases of interest to the financial services industry. In the first case, Reagor v. U.S.A., No. 25-174 (U.S. Oct. 6, 2025), the High Court declined to review a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which upheld a company executive’s criminal conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 1014 for making a “false statement” to a bank in securing a loan made to his company. In the second case, IQ Data International, Inc. v. Six, No. 24-1326 (U.S. Oct. 6, 2025), the Supreme Court declined to review a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which ruled that a consumer sufficiently established Article III standing under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The consumer alleged that a collection agency transmitted a collection letter to him despite his explicit instruction that the collector correspond only with his attorney.

Meanwhile, the High Court recently deferred an application for an immediate administrative stay that had been submitted by the Trump administration in its continuing effort to keep Federal Reserve Governor Dr. Lisa Cook out of her position following a district court decision that had reinstated her. The application for the stay was deferred pending oral argument, which is now targeted for January 2026. The Clerk was directed to establish a briefing schedule for amici curiae and any supplemental briefs responding to amici (Trump v. Cook, No. 25A312, (U.S. Oct. 1, 2025)).

Fifth Circuit’s decision in Reagor. As previously reported, the Fifth Circuit affirmed Reagor’s criminal conviction for violating 18 U.S.C. § 1014 for making a false statement to a bank in connection with a loan to his company. Reagor’s petition had argued that the Fifth Circuit’s affirmation of the conviction directly conflicted with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Thompson v. United States (145 S. Ct. 821, 827 (2025)), “limiting § 1014 to false and not merely misleading statements” (see Banking and Finance Law Daily, Aug. 22, 2025).

Notably, Reagor emphasized that after the Fifth Circuit affirmed his conviction but before denying Reagor’s petition for rehearing, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Thompson. In light of the Court’s decision in Thompson (see Banking and Finance Law Daily, Mar. 21, 2025), Reagor argued that “there was insufficient evidence” for the jury to have found, beyond a reasonable doubt, that he “knowingly made a false statement to a bank.”

Ninth Circuit’s decision in IQ Data Int’l. In the underlying case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the dismissal of the consumer’s FDCPA claim for lack of Article III standing. The Ninth Circuit determined that the collection agency’s transmittal of a collection letter to the consumer, despite the consumer’s explicit instruction that the collector correspond only with his attorney, constituted a per se violation of the FDCPA (§ 1692c(a)(2)). Moreover, in reviewing the enactment of the FDCPA and drawing a comparison with the traditional tort of “intrusion on seclusion,” the Ninth Circuit maintained that the consumer’s receipt of the collection letter “inherently violated” his privacy.

The consumer sufficiently alleged actual harm that “was neither conjectural nor a bare statutory violation of procedure,” the federal appellate court determined (see Banking and Finance Law Daily, Feb. 25, 2025, and Aug. 22, 2025).

Supreme Court docket. For more details about these and other petitions and cases pending before the Supreme Court, please consult this list. Issued opinions, granted petitions, pending petitions, and denied petitions are listed separately, along with a summary of the questions presented and the status of each case.

Companies: International Bank of Commerce; IQ Data International, Inc.; Reagor-Dykes Auto Group

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