"Hearing a case that could profoundly affect the litigation burdens faced by US companies, most of the justices appeared unwilling to lower the high hurdles that currently confront investors who want to bring lawsuits alleging corporate fraud. "

"The justices are being asked to determine just how far Congress meant to go when it passed legislation to crack down on frivolous securities lawsuits a decade ago. The high cost of shareholder litigation is frequently blamed for threatening the global competitiveness of US capital markets."

", will require the justices to define key terms of the 1995 Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (PSLRA), in ways that could profoundly affect whether many shareholder suits are thrown out by judges before they reach a jury."

"Tellabs, which makes fibre optic equipment, was sued by shareholders after its chief executive made statements about sales that turned out to be false. The companyâ??s shares fell after the statements were corrected, leaving some shareholders with big losses. "

"The court must clear up confusion in lower courts about how to evaluate the behaviour of company officials in such circumstances: should judges consider all the possible explanations for the chief executiveâ??s actions, both innocent and guilty, to figure out whether there is the required â??strong inferenceâ? that he meant to deceive?"

"Or should they interpret the alleged facts in a way that favours the plaintiff, as is normally the case in civil lawsuits â?? a standard that would
... read the whole article