The Securities and Exchange Commission has decided to support shareholders suing Wall Street banks for damages over Enron's collapse in a significant case before the Supreme Court, according to a Washington Post report Saturday.
The Enron shareholders' $40 billion lawsuit contends that Merrill Lynch & Co., Barclays PLC and Credit Suisse Group should be held equally liable as Enron Corp. as participants in the energy company's massive accounting fraud. Thirty states took the shareholders' side, and the SEC's widely awaited position has been viewed by some observers as a key test of the agency's leanings on questions of investor protection under Chairman Christopher Cox, The Associated Press reported.
The SEC has asked the Justice Department's solicitor general, who represents the government's view in Supreme Court cases, to file a court brief in support of the Enron shareholders' position, The Post reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the SEC's decision.
Dan Newman, a spokesman for Enron plaintiffs' law firm Lerach Coughlin, said Saturday the firm had not been informed of the SEC's intention to support the shareholders' position, the AP reported.
"But if it's true that the SEC has affirmed their long-standing opinion that all fraudsters can be held accountable, it's a positive step for investors, taxpayers, financial markets and victims of corporate misconduct," Newman said, according to the AP.
- New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants
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