Cite as: 527 U. S. 308 (1999)
Opinion of the Court
After deciding that the Securities Act permitted equitable relief, we concluded that the bill stated a cause of action for the equitable remedies of rescission of the contracts and restitution of the consideration paid, id., at 287-288, and that the preliminary injunction "was a reasonable measure to preserve the status quo pending final determination of the questions raised by the bill," id., at 290. Deckert is not on point here because, as the Court took pains to explain, "the bill state[d] a cause [of action] for equitable relief." Id., at 288.
"The principal objects of the suit are rescission of the Savings Plan contracts and restitution of the consideration paid . . . . That a suit to rescind a contract induced by fraud and to recover the consideration paid may be maintained in equity, at least where there are circumstances making the legal remedy inadequate, is well established." Id., at 289.
The preliminary relief available in a suit seeking equitable relief has nothing to do with the preliminary relief available in a creditor's bill seeking equitable assistance in the collection of a legal debt.
In the second case relied on by respondents, United States v. First Nat. City Bank, 379 U. S. 378 (1965), the United States, in its suit to enforce a tax assessment and tax lien, requested a preliminary injunction preventing a third-party bank from transferring any of the taxpayer's assets which were held in a foreign branch office of the bank. Id., at 379- 380. Relying on a statute giving district courts the power to grant injunctions " 'necessary or appropriate for the enforcement of the internal revenue laws,' " id., at 380 (quoting former 26 U. S. C. § 7402(a) (1964 ed.)), we concluded that the temporary injunction was "appropriate to prevent further dissipation of assets," 379 U. S., at 385. We stated that if a district court could not issue such an injunction, foreign taxpayers could avoid their tax obligations.
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