Supreme Court declines to hear effort to appeal SEC's rescinded gag rule

CONTEXT: The Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to the SEC’s former “no-deny” settlement rule, often called the “gag rule,” which had barred settling defendants from publicly denying SEC allegations. This is mostly a follow-up, not a market-moving fresh policy change, because the SEC already rescinded the rule in May 2026 and said it would not seek to enforce existing no-deny provisions. The denial is broadly in line with expectations after rescission reduced the practical need for Supreme Court review, though it leaves lower-court rulings intact rather than creating a new nationwide First Amendment precedent. - - Background