Investors, employees, pensioners, and companies
lose millions of dollars in stock value each year
thanks to abusive class action practices. Driving
down those stock prices through behind-the-scenes
contacts with Wall Street analysts and short sellers
is the newest weapon in plaintiffs’ lawyers’ arsenal.
And it’s all being done right under the noses of
SEC regulators.
The solution: More rigorous SEC enforcement
and reforms requiring disclosure of relationships
between the plaintiffs’ bar and short sellers.
Washington Legal Foundation (WLF), as part of
its INVESTOR PROTECTION PROGRAM, has filed
several formal complaints with the SEC asking it
to initiate immediate reform. The U.S. Chamber
of Commerce recently joined WLF in calling upon
the Commission to investigate recent short-seller/
plantiffs’ lawyer manipulation.
Chairman Donaldson, you take every opportunity
to tell American investors how SEC is acting to
protect their interests. Yet, the Commission is
overlooking a very serious, and preventable,
manipulation of the market. When will the SEC
make an ongoing commitment of resources to
investigate the abusive relationship between
plaintiffs’ lawyers and short sellers?
For more information about WLF’s INVESTOR PROTECTION
PROGRAM, visit WLF’s website at www.wlf.org.
