The members of Friday's AALS discussion group about which I wrote last week came to an inescapable–if unsurprising–overall conclusion: the U.S. Supreme Court's opinion in the Salman case does little to address major unresolved questions under U.S. insider trading law. That having been said, we had a wide-ranging and sometimes exciting discussion about the Court's opinion in Salman and what might or should come next. I found the discussion very stimulating; a great way to start a new semester–especially one in which I am teaching Securities Regulation and Advanced Business Associations, both of which deal with insider trading law. I will offer brief outtakes from the proceedings here for your consideration and (as desired) comment.
John Anderson and I framed three questions around which we structured the formal part of the discussion session (which commenced after brief introductory comments from each participant).
- What, if anything, does the Court's Salman opinion say by its silence?
- What, if anything, is left of the Second Circuit opinion in the Newman case after Salman?
- Is law reform needed after Salman, and if so, should we continue to permit it to occur through further, incremental judicial developments or should reform be undertaken through legislation or regulatory rule-making or guidance?
The questions drew both divergent and overlapping responses. It would take too long to try to capture it all, but a recording of the discussion will be available, if all went well with the technology, etc., on the AALS website in the coming months.
I want to pass on here, however, two key reading recommendations that Don Langevoort made to all of us that offer a basis for responding to all three questions–and more. First, Don recommended that we all read the Solicitor General's Brief for the United States in the Salman case. From this, he suggested (among other things), we can review issues not addressed in Salman and get an idea of how the U.S. government–at least at present–is processing those issues as across the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Second, he recommended reading the First Circuit opinions in the Parisian and McPhail cases–two criminal prosecutions alleging insider trading violations (tipping and trading) by members of a golf group. These opinions also address important issues not taken up by Salman–including how the "knew or should have known" language from the Court's Dirks opinion relates to both the mens rea requirement in criminal insider trading actions (which require proof of a "willful" violation under Section 32(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended) and misappropriation actions–and may offer windows on future judicial decision making.
No doubt, insider trading law in the United States remains a bit of an open book in many respects after Salman. Given that, I may report on more from this AALS discussion session in future posts. But I will leave the matter here, for now, having posed a few questions for your consideration and passed on some good advice from a trusted colleague who has followed U.S. insider trading law for many years . . . .