The financial reform bill now working its way through Congress will include an amendment to the securities laws allowing private civil actions for aiding and abetting liability, if an amendment Senator Arlen Specter proposed on May 4, 2010 is part of the final bill. According to the Blog of the Legal Times (here)
Specter’s “Aiding and Abetting” Bill: Why it Could Pass and Why it Matters
In January 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court in the Stoneridge case followed its prior decision in Central Bank of Denver and held that there is no private right of action for "scheme liability" or aiding and abetting under the federal securities laws, ruling that Congress had reserved to the SEC the right to enforce aiding
Supreme Court Rules in Stoneridge Defendants’ Favor
On January 15, 2008, in a 5-3 majority opinion (here) written by Justice Kennedy (pictured to the left), the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the Eighth Circuit in the Stonridge Investment Partners, LLC v Scientific Atlanta case. The Court concluded that the implied right of action under Section 10(b) did not reach the respondent