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14 

AMG CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC v. FTC 

Opinion of the Court 

volved, §5 authorizes “ ‘[a]ll remedies available to the Com-
mission,’ ”  including “ ‘restitution.’ ”  See §3, 120 Stat. 3372.
We agree, however, that restitution is available, for exam-
ple, when the Commission uses its administrative process. 
See, e.g., 15 U. S. C. §57b(b).  That being so, these amend-
ments also tell us nothing about the scope of §13(b). 

Fifth,  the  Commission  and  its  amici  emphasize  the
policy-related  importance  of  allowing  the  Commission  to 
use §13(b) to obtain monetary relief.  They suggest that it
is  undesirable  simply  to  enjoin  those  who  violate  the  Act 
while  leaving  them  with  profits  earned  at  the  unjustified 
expense of consumers.  See, e.g., Brief for Respondent 8–9;
Brief for Truth in Advertising, Inc., as Amicus Curiae 7–13; 
Brief for American Antitrust Institute as Amicus Curiae 9– 
21; Brief for National Consumer Law Center et al. as Amici 
Curiae 10–20; Brief for Illinois et al. as Amici Curiae 5–11.  
They  point  to  the  billions  of  dollars  that  the  Commission 
has returned to consumers as a result of the Commission’s 
§13(b) efforts.  See, e.g., Brief for Respondent 8–9; Brief for 
Illinois et al. as Amici Curiae 5. 

Nothing  we  say  today,  however,  prohibits  the  Commis-
sion  from  using  its  authority  under  §5  and  §19  to  obtain
restitution on behalf of consumers.  If the Commission be-
lieves  that  authority  too  cumbersome  or  otherwise  inade-
quate, it is, of course, free to ask Congress to grant it further 
remedial authority.  Indeed, the Commission has recently
asked Congress for that very authority, see Hearing before 
the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans-
portation  on  Oversight  of  the  Federal  Trade  Commission, 
Prepared Statement of the FTC, 116th Cong., 2d Sess., 3–5 
(2020), and Congress has considered at least one bill that 
would do so, see S. 4626, 116th Cong., 2d Sess., §403 (2020) 
(revising  §13  to  expressly  authorize  restitution  and  dis-
gorgement).    We  must  conclude,  however,  that  §13(b)  as 
currently written does not grant the Commission authority 
to obtain equitable monetary relief.