The U.S. Supreme Court—down two justices due to recusals—Tuesday took up the issue of whether and to what extent antitrust law should apply to IPO syndicates.
Trying to craft a clear statement of a standard, Justice Stephen Breyer, who taught antitrust law, threw out a three-step standard for permitting antitrust cases to proceed if the briefs alleged price-fixing, a long-standing prohibition of an activity by the SEC and “strong evidence” of that behavior, not merely an inference.
While one plaintiffs’ lawyer called out “Bingo!” prompting grins from several quarters, Justice Sam Alito seemed less likely to embrace such a standard. “How would a judge enforce that,” Alito asked. And later, other justices seemed rto agree that such a standard would require some fine parsing.
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Related story: Supremes to hear IPO antitrust case
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