Is it the end of private securities litigation? Not yet, but one could hardly tell given some of the fierce reactions to the possibility that The Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, a private group of business leaders and academic experts, may recommend that the SEC limit the ability of private plaintiffs to bring actions pursuant to Rule 10b-5.
The New York Times had a feature article on the “Paulson Committee” (as it is colloquially known because U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson provided a favorable quote for its initial press release) this past weekend. Although the main focus of the Paulson Committee appears to be examining the effects of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, an initial recommendation to the Committee from Professor John Coffee that the SEC consider dis-implying a private right of action under Rule 10b-5 (in some or all cases) is garnering the most attention.
Reaction can be found in a New York Times column and posts in Point of Law, Ideoblog, and Securities Litigation Watch.
The 10b-5 Daily 