Washington – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday stopped short of ringing a death knell for securities fraud class actions, tinkering with but not reversing a precedent that business advocates wanted the court to overturn.
By a unanimous vote, the court increased the ability of defendants to rebut the presumptions that have allowed plaintiffs to mount class actions based on company misstatements. Specifically, it ruled that defendants can introduce evidence at the class certification stage directly rebutting the presumption that misstatements affected share price.
