In Westlaw Article, Akin Gump Lawyers Examine SCOTUS Decision on Disseminators of False Statements with Intent to Defraud
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Westlaw has published the article “U.S. Supreme Court: Disseminators of false statements with intent to defraud can be held liable under Securities Exchange Act Rule 10b-5,” written by Akin Gump litigation partners Peter Altman and Michelle Reed, corporate senior counsel Daniel Zimmerman and litigation associate Shelly Kim.
The article examines the ramifications of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Lorenzo v. Securities and Exchange Commission, which held that “disseminating false or misleading statements with the intent to defraud violates federal securities laws, even if the disseminator did not ‘make’ the statements.”
The authors write that the decision, in addition to ending the SEC’s losing streak before the Court, “clarifies liability for disseminators of misleading information, even if they did not have ultimate authority over the content of the false statements, as long as the disseminators possessed intent to defraud.” They add that the decision’s emphasis “on the particular egregious facts of [the plaintiff’s] intentional actions to disseminate misstatements may limit the impact on previous decisions regarding liability of ‘makers’ of statements and aiders and abettors under securities laws.”
To read the full article, which originated as an Akin Gump client alert, please click here.
