Supreme Court Case Could Affect Future of Securities Fraud Class Actions

Next week, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a securities fraud class action and weigh the fraud-on-the market theory, The Southeast Texas Record reports. The case could affect the future of class actions, including whether the fraud-on-the-market theory can be used in class actions, the paper also notes.

"The theory assumes that all public information provided by a company is incorporated into its stock price," The Record reports. Halliburton was accused of inflating its stock price by misrepresenting "its asbestos liabilities, overstating its revenues and building up hype about the company’s merger with Dresser Industries," The Record further reports.