The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US federal regulator, has won an important ruling in its battle to assert control of US securities industry regulation after a US court ruling.

US District Judge William Pauley has ruled that Eliot Spitzer, New York state attorney general, does not have the right to pursue banks for abusive underwriting practices. Pauley dismissed a lawsuit filed against 10 investment banks, determining that the firms had not violated anti-trust laws when they underwrote initial public offerings.