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Supreme Court Hears Challenge to Fraud-on-the-Market Presumption in Securities Fraud Litigation

By Eric Rieder
March 24, 2014

Editor's Note: Although a shareholder cause of action for fraud on the market is a civil claim, it is one that often follows criminal claims brought against a corporation and/or its officers or employees. Therefore, the outcome in the U.S. Supreme Court case, Halliburton v. Erica P. John Fund, discussed herein, should be of interest to attorneys concentrating their practices in the field of business crimes.

When the U.S. Supreme Court 25 years ago decided Basic, Inc. v. Levinson, 485 U.S. 224 (1988), it adopted a legal theory that commentators would describe as revolutionizing securities law in the United States. By accepting the “fraud-on-the-market” theory, the Basic Court made it much easier for plaintiffs to get their cases certified as class actions, increasing the potential exposure of corporations and their officers and directors.

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