STF na MÃdia - MyClipp
STF na MÃdia - MyClipp
STF na MÃdia - MyClipp
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Reuters General/ - Article, Qui, 12 de Abril de 2012<br />
CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Supreme Court)<br />
SEC commissioner urges U.S.<br />
investor-rights action<br />
By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON | Thu Apr 12, 2012<br />
4:21pm EDT (Reuters) - A commissioner with the U.S.<br />
Securities and Exchange Commission is calling for<br />
Congress to take action to help investors after a 2010<br />
Supreme Court decision greatly restricted them from<br />
suing foreign companies for fraud. The comments by<br />
Luis Aguilar, a Democratic member of the SEC, came<br />
in response to a study released by the agency earlier<br />
this week. The SEC study was conducted in response<br />
to a June 2010 Supreme Court case, Morrison v.<br />
Natio<strong>na</strong>l Australia Bank Ltd. The ruling prevented<br />
investors from filing fraud claims against companies<br />
that are not traded on a U.S. exchange. Since that<br />
decision, the vast majority of securities fraud claims<br />
against foreign companies that had been filed in U.S.<br />
courts have been wiped out, leaving investors with one<br />
less tool to combat potential securities fraud. Aguilar<br />
said the ruling has had a very negative impact on<br />
investor protection, and that Congress should take<br />
action so that investors can once again have their day<br />
in court. "Properly functioning fi<strong>na</strong>ncial markets require<br />
the protection of investors' rights. U.S. investors expect<br />
to be protected by U.S. securities laws, regardless of<br />
where the securities transaction ultimately occurs,"<br />
Aguilar wrote in a response to the SEC study. "It is my<br />
view that investors should have a private right of action<br />
under the antifraud provisions of the Exchange Act in<br />
trans<strong>na</strong>tio<strong>na</strong>l securities fraud cases." When the<br />
Morrison decision first came out, it not only affected<br />
investors, but it also hampered both the SEC and the<br />
U.S. Department of Justice's ability to sue for<br />
trans<strong>na</strong>tio<strong>na</strong>l fraud. Congress quickly righted this<br />
problem for the SEC and the DOJ just a month later<br />
with the passage of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, which<br />
restored the agencies' ability to bring cases with a<br />
more global reach as long as they met certain<br />
conditions. Congress stopped short, however, of<br />
extending that same privilege to investors. Instead,<br />
Congress directed the SEC to study the issue and<br />
provide any recommendations on whether to change<br />
the law. In order to release the study to Congress this<br />
week, all five commissioners at the SEC had to vote<br />
on it. Aguilar's 12-page statement gave a dissenting<br />
view on the study, which he said was disappointing<br />
because it failed to take a stand for investors or make<br />
any specific recommendations. He also said he was<br />
upset that at one point in the study, the SEC said a<br />
possible option for Congress would be to take no<br />
action in this area. "The study falls far short of<br />
providing Congress with an informed recommendation<br />
and falls far short in fulfilling the Commission's mission<br />
to protect investors," he said. A spokesman for the<br />
Se<strong>na</strong>te Banking Committee, which has jurisdiction<br />
over the SEC, said the chairman is still reviewing the<br />
SEC's report. (Reporting By Sarah N. Lynch; editing by<br />
Matthew Lewis)<br />
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