Washington – Investors who lost money when the dot- com bubble burst suffered a Supreme Court setback Monday, and the justices are poised to issue another decision that could restrict shareholder lawsuits.
The court sided with Wall Street banks that were alleged to have conspired to drive up prices on about 900 newly issued stocks in the late 1990s.
The justices reversed a federal appeals court decision that would have enabled investors to pursue their case for anti-competitive practices.
The outcome of the antitrust case was vital to Wall Street because damages in antitrust cases are tripled, in contrast to penalties under the securities laws.
But the Supreme Court may be about to raise the bar as well for cases under the securities laws.
Upcoming is a ruling in a stockholders’ suit against tech firm Tellabs Inc., alleged to have misled investors by engaging in a scheme to inflate its stock price.
