In 1995, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act ("PSLRA") was passed to limit frivolous and unwarranted securities lawsuits. 15 U.S.C. §78u-4. While private securities litigation is an indispensable tool in which defrauded investors can recover their losses, such litigation has led to nuisance filings, targeting of deep-pocket defendants, and vexatious discovery requests in attempts to, among other things, extort large settlements. See Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. v. Dabit, 547 U.S. 71 (2006). To combat these actions, the PSLRA changed the pleading ...
The SEC famously announced last year that it would insist upon admissions in settled cases involving egregious conduct - instead of its long-standing "neither admit nor deny" rubric. But its recent Scottrade action has the industry wondering if Commission staff are adhering to that standard. Scottrade entered an Offer of Settlement in administrative proceedings, admitting the Commission's factual and legal findings of books-and-records violations. A software code change in March 2006 inadvertently caused Scottrade's system to omit Error Account trades from its ...