“‘Naked’ short sellers squeezed by Supreme C
Post# of 96879
Published by AMI Newswire May 16, 2016
In a sweeping blow to Wall Street investment giants, the U.S. Supreme Court today unanimously allowed lawsuits against "naked" short sellers in state courts to proceed.
The high court ruled unanimously that shareholders are not confined to federal court when seeking recourse for securities violations. Granting “due deference to the important role of state courts,” the Court reinforced federalist principles while clarifying congressional intentions to limit the federal government’s role.
The ruling, which could give a new boost to startups and small companies targeted by short sellers, showed a rare moment of ideological agreement in the court. Justice Elena Kagan authored the Court’s opinion, and Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, issued a concurrence.
In 2012, businessman Greg Manning sued Merrill Lynch and other financial institutions in New Jersey state court for purposefully devaluing his company through systematic “naked” short-selling — a term used to describe selling a stock a seller does not own and has not borrowed. In standard short sales, traders either borrow a stock or make sure that it can be borrowed prior to selling it short in the hope that its value will fall before the transaction must be covered.
The practice has come under increasing scrutiny and has been banned in Germany and other major economies.
Read more: t.co
The complete SCOTUS opinions are here: supremecourt.gov