Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn

ARTICLE · 30 APRIL 2024

SCOTUS: Pure Omissions Are Not Actionable Under Rule 10b-5

Dechert
Dechert
Contributor
Dechert

Dechert

Dechert helps business leaders lead For more than 150 years, we’ve advised the innovators who move...

View firm profile
Explore more from Dechert

On April 12, 2024, the unanimous United States Supreme Court confirmed that the mere fact of an issuer's silence does not give rise to a private claim under Rule 10b-5(b)...

United StatesLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration

Key Takeaways

  • The United States Supreme Court held that pure omissions, standing alone, are not actionable in private civil litigation under Rule 10b-5(b), which makes it unlawful to omit material facts in connection with buying or selling securities when that omission renders "statements made" materially misleading. Consequently, shareholder claims will not survive dismissal under Rule 10b-5 without pointing to a statement rendered misleading by the alleged omission.
  • The decision does not opine on what constitutes "statements made," when a statement is misleading as a half-truth, or whether Rules 10b-5(a) and (c) support liability for pure omissions. The decision also seems to have left open the question of whether a plaintiff can point to the entire MD&A as the "statement made" and rendered misleading without the Item 303 disclosure at issue.

We operate a free-to-view policy, asking only that you register in order to read all of our content. Please login or register to view the rest of this article.

See more popular content from