Law Commons^™

The Unreasonableness Of Reasonable: Rethinking The Reasonable Investor Standard, Alexandra Li

Northwestern University Law Review

This Note explores the “reasonable investor” standard in light of recent developments in pandemic-era securities litigation. Scholars have long criticized the reasonable investor standard for determining materiality. Given the dramatic backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the limitations of the standard are becoming ever more evident. This Note provides a brief history of the development of the current standard and highlights some of its problems through two recent COVID-19 securities fraud cases. This Note argues that the reasonable investor standard is no longer sufficient to protect investors. Through examining tort law and First Amendment jurisprudence, this Note differentiates between the “reasonable” …

Top Ten Issues In De-Spac Securities Litigation, Wendy Gerwick Couture

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

I am delighted to contribute to this symposium on special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). The securities litigation associated with the de-SPAC transaction is at an early stage, but courts are already wrestling with a number of unsettled issues that cast a mirror on SPACs and the securities laws more broadly. As these issues are resolved, they will affect the future of de-SPAC transactions as well as the regulatory environment in which they operate. In this essay, I identify ten such issues, drawing from the pleadings, briefings, and hearings in pending de-SPAC securities cases, with the goal of highlighting the key …

Kill Cammer: Securities Litigation Without Junk Science, J. B. Heaton

William & Mary Business Law Review

Securities litigation is a hotbed of junk science concerning market efficiency. This Article explains why and suggests a way out. In its 1988 decision in Basic v. Levinson, the Supreme Court endorsed the fraud on the market presumption for securities traded in an efficient market. Faced with the task of determining market efficiency, courts throughout the nation embraced the ad hoc speculations of a first-mover district court that proclaimed, in Cammer v. Bloom, how to allege (and presumably prove) facts that would do just that. The Cammer court’s analysis did not rely on financial economics for its notions, but instead …

Morrison And Cryptocurrencies: Is It Time To Revisit The Extraterritorial Application Of Rule 10b-5?, Eleanor B. Eastham

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Are Securities Laws Effective Against Climate Change? A Proposal For Targeted Climate Related Disclosure And Ghg Reduction, Nate Chumley

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

The New York Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Exxon Mobil on October 24, 2018, claiming the company committed securities fraud in order to prop up the value of the company by publicly disclosing a higher proxy cost—or projected future cost—of climate change regulation than the internal cost used. Following this lawsuit, a federal class action was filed utilizing the same legal theory on the same facts. These lawsuits should be viewed as part of the larger history of lawsuits against large fossil fuel companies for climate change-related harms. Public nuisance theory largely captured a set of lawsuits against these …

Sec V. Creditors: Why Sec Civil Enforcement Practice Demonstrates The Need For A Reprioritization Of Securities Fraud Claims In Bankruptcy, Sean Kelly

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note examines how this tension has motivated the SEC to use receiverships as a preferred vehicle to maximize recovery for defrauded security holders and, in the process, create what amounts to an SEC-run bankruptcy proceeding. The use of these receiverships has triggered a high-stakes race to the courthouse among the SEC and creditors, where mere hours can be the difference between millions in recovery and nothing at all. To end this costly race, this Note proposes a solution that seeks to harmonize securities fraud enforcement with bankruptcy law, which starts with revisiting Bankruptcy Code § 510(b) to reprioritize …

Regulating High-Frequency Trading: The Case For Individual Criminal Liability, Orlando Cosme Jr.

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

The popular imagination of securities trading is a chaotic, physical stock exchange—a busy floor with hurried traders yelling, “buy, buy, buy!” While this image is a Hollywood and media favorite, it is no longer accurate. In 2019, most securities trading is conducted electronically on digital markets. One type of trading strategy, high-frequency trading, utilizes algorithms, data centers, fiber optic cables, and supercomputers to obtain an edge in the market. High-frequency trading has leveraged advancements in technology to constitute over half of all trading volume in a given day. High-frequency trading, however, has come under scrutiny in recent years as it …

A Legal Frankenstein’S Monster: The Complete Bar Order In Securities Fraud Class Action Lawsuits, Jonathan C. Stanley

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Insider Trading Law And The Ambiguous Quest For Edge, A. C. Pritchard

Michigan Law Review

A review of Sheelah Kolhatkar, Black Edge.

Morality And Securities Fraud, Jayme Herschkopf

Marquette Law Review

Securities fraud features prominently in conversations about financial reform, and for good reason. In addition to the disproportionate number of securities fraud lawsuits and government actions filed every year, securities fraud case law is frequently consulted as an analytical aid for other types of corporate fraud. And yet, in discussing the interpretation and application of the securities laws, scholars, judges, and lawmakers alike have largely overlooked a feature of securities fraud that could offer significant assistance in many challenging areas: namely, that securities fraud, including civil securities fraud, has a pronounced moral dimension.

This Article explores the role that moral …

Extraterritorial Criminal Enforcement Of Securities Fraud Regulations After United States V. Vilar, Edgardo Rotman

University of Miami Law Review

In August 2013, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in the case of United States v. Vilar denied extraterritorial application of the criminal law antifraud provisions contained in the Securities Exchange Act. The specific object of this paper is to criticize this decision and negate its premises.

After delving in depth into the notion of extraterritoriality, the paper offers a dynamic interpretation of the 1922 Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Bowman, which is still the governing precedent on extraterritorial application of criminal laws. Furthermore, the paper criticizes the application of the 2010 Supreme Court’s decision …

Deranged Disgorgement, James Tyler Kirk

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

This article seeks to explore the concept of equity embodied in the securities laws as intended by Congress. Accordingly, this article asks whether Congress intended to codify the traditional common law notions of equity in disgorgement, or is the SEC's disgorgement sui generis. To answer this question, the philosophy behind disgorgement is exhaustively fleshed out through a historical case analysis. Next, the article establishes what the author believes to be a new concept, the theory of regulatory equity. Following the establishment of this theory, the practice of offsetting disgorgement is analyzed to see whether it is faithful to this new …

Jury Certification Of Federal Securities Fraud Class Actions, Thomas Kayes

Northwestern University Law Review

The rough equivalence of certification and ultimate outcome is class action dogma. If certification is granted, then the plaintiff “wins” by settlement because the risk of incurring class-wide liability by going to trial is too great. If certification is denied, the defendant “wins” because the case may not be worth litigating without the possibility of a class-wide recovery. This Note is about where the dogma is wrong. There are now cases where a denial of certification, just like a grant, presents to the defendant the risk of incurring class-wide liability at trial. This is because those cases are capable of …

Global Expansion Of National Securities Laws: Extraterritoriality And Jurisdictional Conflicts, Junsun Park

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “As securities fraud has grown increasingly transnational, it has become necessary to expand the reach of anti-fraud provisions to persons and entities participating in global securities markets. So far, however, no single antifraud provision exists to govern the entire global marketplace. Although each country strives to combat international securities fraud by using its own regulatory regime, problems can develop when extraterritorial application of national securities laws leads to regulatory overlapping or conflicts. In light of these problems, it is necessary to set forth clear guidelines for determining whether national securities laws can apply extraterritorially and, if so, how far …

Stuck Between A Rock And A Hard Place: Are Public Accounting Firms Subject To Diverging Standards Of Conduct Between Federal Courts And The Pcaob In Securities Fraud Claims?, Pierre Ciric

Journal of Business & Technology Law

No abstract provided.

Don't Throw The Baby Out With The Bath Water: The Merits Of The Intermediate Approach To The Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act, Selby P. Brown

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Future Of Securities Class Actions Against Foreign Companies: China And Comity Concerns, Dana M. Muir, Junhai Liu, Haiyan Xu

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd., the U.S. Supreme Court limited the application of U.S. securities fraud law in transnational situations. The Supreme Court noted that its decision was influenced by international comity considerations. In this Article, we evaluate the availability of class actions in China in cases involving alleged securities fraud. Because we find that the availability of those actions is too limited to fully protect U.S. shareholders, we argue that U.S. investors should be permitted to bring securities fraud class actions against non-U.S. companies whose securities are traded on a U.S. exchange regardless of where those investors …

Time-Bars: Rico-Criminal And Civil Federal And State, G. Robert Blakey

Notre Dame Law Review

The article discusses the role of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) in criminal proceedings. The Act considers several provisions including illegal services of drugs and gambling, corruption in labor or management relations, and commercial fraud such as bankruptcy and securities fraud. The Act applies criminal and civil sanctions including fines and imprisonment, forfeiture, and treble damage relief for persons who injured in business due to violation of law.

Opinions Actionable As Securities Fraud, Wendy Gerwick Couture

Louisiana Law Review

This Article proposes a new analytical framework to apply to statements of opinion in securities fraud cases. Although statements of opinion form the basis of some of the most cutting-edge securities fraud claims--such as those asserted against securities analysts and credit rating agencies--statements of opinion do not fit squarely within the elements of securities fraud. In particular, three issues arise: (1) When is a statement of opinion false so as to qualify as a misrepresentation? (2) When is a statement of opinion material? (3) And, for that matter, what is the distinction between a statement of fact and a statement …

The Supreme Court And The Shareholder Litigant: Basic, Inc. V. Levinson In Context, Jayne W. Barnard

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

The "In Connection With" Requirement Of Rule 10b-5, C. Edward Fletcher Iii

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Beyond The Target Market: Product Advertising And Rule 10b-5'S In Connection With Requirement , Thomas J. Maloney

Cleveland State Law Review

An investor purchases Apple common stock in reliance on representations in advertisements that the new iPad is capable of connecting to “ultrafast” 4G wireless networks. It turns out that the iPad is not compatible with the fastest wireless network in Australia or the 4G networks in Sweden and Germany. If the investor suffered a loss as a result, can the investor recover from Apple for securities fraud under Rule 10b-5 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934? A number of possible impediments to recovery exist. One is Rule 10b-5’s limited scope. The Rule applies only to a fraud that is …

The Misappropriation Theory In Light Of Carpenter And The Insider Trading And Securities Fraud Enforcement Act Of 1988, Mark A. Clayton

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Will Motive, Opportunity Or Recklessness No Longer Constitute Scienter For Fraud? A Survey Of Recent Federal District Court Decisions After The Enactment Of The 1995 Private Securities Litigation Reform Act , Lisa A. Herrera

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Black Swans, Ostriches, And Ponzi Schemes, Nancy B. Rapoport

Golden Gate University Law Review

Cite as 42 Golden Gate U. L. Rev. 627 (2012).

The Aftermath Of Merck: D&O Insecurity In The Security Fraud Arena, Alexandra Russo

Pace Law Review

This Comment will trace the history of Merck, culminating in the Supreme Court’s extension of the statute of limitations periods for private security fraud suits, and discuss the impact this holding will have on future security fraud litigation, both for investor-plaintiffs and issuer-defendants. Part I will examine the facts and procedural history of Merck, which began in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and ultimately reached the Supreme Court of the United States. This procedural background will illuminate the various interpretations existing prior to Merck regarding the events that trigger the statute of …

It's Payback Time, Or Is It?: An Argument To Apply Universal Heightened Standards To All Employee Stock-Based Individual Account Programs In The Post-Enron Era And Why Sarbanes-Oxley's Preventive Measures Do Not Adequately Protect Employee Investor Interests, Sarah Y. Rifaat

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Conflicting Currents: The Obligation To Maintain Inviolate Client Confidences And The New Sec Attorney Conduct Rules, Keith Paul Bishop, James F. Fotenos, Steven K. Hazen, James R. Walther, Nancy H. Wojtas

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Significant Statistics: The Unwitting Policy Making Of Mathematically Ignorant Judges , Michael I. Meyerson, William Meyerson

Pepperdine Law Review

This article will explore several areas in which judges, hampered by their mathematical ignorance, have permitted numerical analysis to subvert the goals of our legal system. In Part II, I will examine the perversion of the presumption of innocence in paternity cases, where courts make the counter-factual assumption that regardless of the evidence, prior to DNA testing, a suspect has a 50/50 chance of being the father. In Part III, I will explore the unnecessary injection of race into trials involving the statistics of DNA matching, even when race is entirely irrelevant to the particular case. Next, in Part IV, …

Index Funds And Securities Fraud Litigation, Richard A. Booth

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.