It was possible to overlook it amongst the flurry of high profile opinions the Supreme Court released on the final day of the 2009 court term, but on June 28, 2010 the Court granted yet another petition for writ of certiorari in a case arising under the securities laws. Although the case arises out of the specific context of a mutual fund market timing case, it raises fundamental issues about who may be a "primary violator" under the securities laws. The Court seems poised to delve yet again into critical issues under the federal securities laws.

 

Background

Janus Capital Group (JCG) is the holding company for a family of mutual funds. Janus Capital Management (JCM) is the funds’ investment advisor. In November 2003, JCG investors filed a complaint in the District of Maryland alleging that the two firms were responsible for misleading statements in the certain funds’ prospectuses. The allegedly misleading statements represented that the funds’ managers did not permit, and took active measure to prevent, "market timing" of the funds. The investors claim they lost money when market timing practices JCG and JCM allegedly authorized were made public.

 

In 2004, JCM reached a settlement with the SEC in connection with the market timing allegations in which the firm paid a disgorgement of $50 million and an additional $50 million in civil penalties. Information regarding the settlement can be found here.

 

The district court dismissed the shareholders suit in May 2007. The shareholders appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. In a May 7, 2009 opinion (here), the Fourth Circuit reversed the district court, finding that the shareholders had adequately stated a claim under the securities laws. The defendants’ filed a petition for writ of certiorari, which the Supreme Court granted on June 28, 2010.

 

Issues Involved

As the Supreme Court itself recently affirmed in its Stoneridge case (about which refer here), there is no private action for aiding and abetting liability under the federal securities laws. Accordingly, the defendants can be liable if at all if they are "primary violators," that is, if they are directly responsible for the allegedly wrongful conduct. The Janus entities contend that as mere service entities for the actual funds, they cannot be held primarily liable.

 

The plaintiffs argue that JCM was not a "mere service provider" contending that the firm handles all of the funds’ operations, "including preparation, filing, and dissemination of the Fund prospectuses and prospectus statements" and that all of the funds’ officers were executives at the advisor. The investors contend that they had every reason to believe that the Fund prospectus statements were JCM’s work.

 

The Fourth Circuit ruled that "a service provider can be held primarily liable in a private securities fraud action for ‘helping’ or ‘participating’ in another company’s misstatements." The Fourth Circuit’s ruling is at odds with the decisions of other Circuit courts. Some courts hold that only someone that "makes" a statement and has it attributed to him can be held liable as a primary violator. Other courts, similarly to the Fourth Circuit, have held that someone that "substantially participates" in the activities that led to the creation of the allegedly misleading statement can be held liable as a primary violator, even if the statement is not attributed to him or her.

 

Discussion

Though this case nominally is just about whether or not a service provider can be held liable, fundamentally it is about who can be held liable as a primary violator. A bright line test would limit primary violator liability to those who speak or who have statements attributed to them. However, a broader "substantial participation" test would substantially widen the scope of persons who potentially could be held liable. The scope of liability could potentially extend to a wide range of persons who are involved in the preparation of public statements, including, for example, potentially even the issuers’ attorneys and accountants.

 

Indeed, at some level, this "substantial participation" test starts to sound a lot like the "aiding and abetting liability" that the Supreme Court had rejected in connection with private lawsuits in the Stoneridge case. That may, in fact, be why the Supreme Court took up the case – not just to reconcile an apparent split in the Circuits, but to align the principles of primary violator liability with those of the secondary violator jurisprudence. In a June 29, 2009 Am Law Litigation Daily article (here), Susan Beck furhter develops these issues relating to the tension between the Fourth Circuit’s standard and the case law relating to secondary liabiltiy.

 

I have absolutely no way of knowing how this case ultimately will turn out, and indeed the case has yet to be fully briefed or argued. But if I were a betting man, I would bet that the principles on which the Fourth Circuit based its decision are unlikely to survive Supreme Court scrutiny. (I could also be wrong, which is why I don’t gamble.)

 

It is worth noting that the Court suddenly seems particularly keen to take up securities cases. As I recently noted here while discussing the Court’s cert grant in the Matrixx Intiaitves case, there was a time when the Court would go many terms without taking up any securities cases. For several years now, the Supreme Court has taken up one or two securities cases. The Court’s increased interest in securities cases make great blog fodder, but it also creates the potential for disruptive alterations of the settled litigation landscape.

 

The Court’s sudden heightened interest in securities cases must be particularly unnerving for plaintiffs’ lawyers as the Court, with its current lineup, has generally proven to be less than entirely plaintiff friendly. There is some considerable risk that the Janus case will provide yet another opportunity for the Court to deliver an opinion the plaintiffs’ bar finds unhelpful.

 

In any event, the Supreme Court will now have two potentially significant securities cases on its docket next term. I really do find it surprising, given this blog’s topical focus, how often I find myself writing about Supreme Court-related issues –especially lately. I never expected that. I do find it all very fascinating though

 

Special thanks to the several readers who sent me links and other materials about this case. Special thanks to the SCOTUS Wiki blog (here) for links to some of the key documents to which I linked above.

 

Surprising Stuff Under the Hood of the Financial Reform Act: In recent posts (most recently here) I noted the possibility that the Supreme Court’s decision in the Morrison v. National Australia Bank case could well trigger Congressional action, particularly with respect to the SEC’s authority over conduct in the U.S. even if the transaction occurred outside the U.S.

 

An alert reader who clearly has a lot of patience managed to sift through the thousands of pages of the Conference Committee version of the financial reform bill (the "Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act," which can be found here), and he reports (and my review of the Bill confirms) that the Conference Bill actually addresses the extraterritorial question.

 

First, Section 929P(b) authorizes an action brought by the Commission, inter alia, based on "conduct within the United States in furtherance of the violation," in effect allowing the Commission to take enforcement action based on conduct in the U.S. even if the transaction took place outside the U.S. (if all the provision’s conditions are met).

 

Second, Section 929Y, entitled "Study of Extraterritoral Private Rights of Action," directs the Commission to study whether private rights of action should be allowed on the same basis as authorized for the Commission in Section 929P(b). The provision directs the Commission to deliver the report to Congress within 18 months of the statute’s enactment.

 

In other words, if the Bill is enacted in its current form, the Commission will have the ability to bring cases involving foreign companies and even involving transactions outside the U.S., if the conduct meets the standards defined in the provision, and the Commission will study and report to Congress on whether private claimants should have the same right.

 

Very special thanks to the alert reader who found these provisions and pointed them out to me.

 

Bank Shot: Regular readers know I have been reporting frequently on the possibility of litigation arising in the wake of the wave of failed banks. The July 2010 issue of U.S. Banker has an article entitled "First the Failures, Then the Lawsuits" (here) which takes a very interesting look at this possibility.

 

The article reports that the FDIC "has begun laying the groundwork for potentially years of lawsuits against senior executives and directors it claims may have been responsible for their bank’s collapse." The article notes that the FDIC has sent "hundreds of demand letters," which the article describes as "the necessary first steps in assessing accountability."

 

Among other things, the article reflects a dispute over who the FDIC is targeting with the demand letters. On the one hand, the article quotes the executive director of the American Association of Bank Directors as saying that the "where there’s money to go after," the FDIC is pursuing the claim, "whether there is a good case or not." On the other hand, the article quotes an agency attorney as saying "How far we go depends on the facts and circumstances of each case…If … there’s nothing there, then we close out the investigation."

 

The article points out that while the FDIC has not filed any director or officer lawsuits during the current crisis, "but observers say that will likely change soon," particularly in light of the three-year statute of limitation. One attorney is quoted as saying we may start to see the suits in 2011 with more in 2012.

 

The article quotes an agency official as saying that the purpose of the demand letters "is simply to preserve insurance," adding that "we try to make enough of a preliminary investigation to make sure that when we send the letter we’re sending it to the right people and we have a basis for the claim."

 

Special thanks to a loyal reader for sending a link to the article.