Supreme Court Signals Narrow Ruling on Securities Liability (1)

US Supreme Court justices once again found themselves debating a question on which the parties now seem to agree, this time in a much-anticipated securities case.

It’s the latest example of when the justices don’t discover until after they’ve granted a case that there’s actually broad agreement on the issue. But the parties do differ widely on the effects the court’s answer could have.

The precise question the justices agreed to decide is whether a “pure omission” in an SEC filing can give rise to a securities class action under the oft-criticized Rule 10b-5, or whether there must be some ...