Opinion ID: 786487
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Skidmore Deference Is Appropriate

Text: 46 The fact that Chevron is inapplicable to this case does not mean that the SEC's interpretation will merit no deference whatsoever. Instead, it warrants the more limited standard of deference adopted by the Supreme Court in Skidmore v. Swift & Co., 323 U.S. 134, 65 S.Ct. 161, 89 L.Ed. 124 (1944). See United States v. Mead Corp., 533 U.S. 218, 234, 121 S.Ct. 2164, 150 L.Ed.2d 292 (2001) ( Chevron did nothing to eliminate Skidmore 's holding that an agency's interpretation may merit some deference whatever its form, given the `specialized experience and broader investigations and information' available to the agency.) (quoting Skidmore, 323 U.S. at 139, 65 S.Ct. 161); Esden v. Bank of Boston, 229 F.3d 154, 169 n. 19 (2d Cir.2000), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 1061, 121 S.Ct. 674, 148 L.Ed.2d 652 (2001). As the Skidmore Court explained, the level of deference owed to any particular interpretation depends upon the thoroughness evident in its consideration, the validity of its reasoning, its consistency with earlier and later pronouncements, and all those factors which give it power to persuade, if lacking power to control. 323 U.S. at 140, 65 S.Ct. 161; see also Mead, 533 U.S. at 239, 121 S.Ct. 2164. In Community Health Center v. Wilson-Coker, 311 F.3d 132 (2d Cir.2002), we outlined the factors that inform our Skidmore analysis, including the agency's expertise, the care it took in reaching its conclusions, the formality with which it promulgates its interpretations, the consistency of its views over time, and the ultimate persuasiveness of its arguments. Id. at 138, 65 S.Ct. 161. 47 Applying the Community Health Center factors in this case, we find that several factors — most notably the persuasiveness of the SEC's interpretation — weigh in favor of deference to the SEC's reading of section 9(a)(1) of SIPA, 15 U.S.C. § 78fff-3(a)(1). Under the federal securities laws, the SEC is responsible for regulating broker-dealers, administering the securities exchanges and protecting the public interest. The protections outlined in SIPA are merely one aspect of this much broader legislative scheme. Although the SEC has not always played a direct role in administering SIPA, its general oversight of the securities laws gives it expertise that merits some degree of deference. We decline to accord the SEC interpretation the considerable deference it requests, because the SEC has not had the kind of history of consistent interpretation of section 9(a)(1) that prompted our holding in Community Health Center. See 311 F.3d at 139. As we did in Community Health Center, we decline to determine the exact molecular weight of the deference to be accorded to the SEC's position without analyzing the persuasiveness of its interpretation (the final Skidmore factor). Id. at 137-38, 65 S.Ct. 161. 48