Sponsors (6)
The bill strengthens the FTC's ability to recover money and deter unlawful business practices for the benefit of consumers and taxpayers, but it substantially expands liability, legal uncertainty, and potential costs for businesses and financial institutions.
Consumers and small-business owners gain stronger access to monetary relief (restitution, rescission, refunds, disgorgement) to return money or property taken by unlawful trade practices.
Consumers benefit because the FTC's clarified authority to say an entity 'has violated' allows the agency to pursue relief for ongoing and completed violations, expanding enforcement reach against past misconduct.
Consumers and taxpayers can recover ill-gotten gains because courts may order disgorgement of unjust enrichment (with offsets), which also creates a stronger deterrent against unlawful conduct.
Small businesses and financial institutions face greater exposure to monetary remedies for past conduct (lookback up to 10 years), raising potential litigation, settlement, and compliance costs.
Disgorgement remedies, even with offsets, could trigger duplicative recovery disputes and legal uncertainty that increase defense costs and prolong litigation for defendants.
Excluding time spent outside the U.S. from limitations periods can extend defendants' exposure where they are outside U.S. jurisdiction, complicating defense planning and timing of enforcement actions.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Explicitly authorizes restitution, rescission/reformation, refunds/returns, and disgorgement under the FTC Act with a 10-year lookback and certain technical edits.
Expands the Federal Trade Commission’s enforcement tools by explicitly authorizing a set of equitable remedies in consumer-protection cases and clarifies preliminary injunction authority and certain wording in the FTC Act. The bill adds a new equitable-remedies subsection allowing restitution, contract rescission or reformation, return of property, and disgorgement with a 10-year lookback limit (with an offset for restitution) and treats time spent outside the U.S. as excluded for limitations calculations; amendments apply to cases started on or after enactment.
Official title: Amend section 13 of the Federal Trade Commission Act to provide for equitable relief, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 15, 2026 by Maria E. Cantwell · Last progress April 15, 2026