Summary
Salman v. United States, 580 U.S. ___ (2016), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that gifts of confidential information without any compensation to relatives for the purposes of insider trading are a violation of securities laws.[1] The Court relied on its decision in Dirks v. Securities and Exchange Commission, 463 U.S. 646 (1983), which held that "that a tippee is exposed to liability for trading on inside information only if the tippee participates in a breach of the tipper's fiduciary duty."[2]
| Salman v. United States | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued October 5, 2016 Decided December 6, 2016 | |
| Full case name | Bassam Yacoub Salman, Petitioner v. United States |
| Docket no. | 15–628 |
| Citations | 580 U.S. ___ (more) 137 S. Ct. 420; 196 L. Ed. 2d 351 |
| Opinion announcement | Opinion announcement |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Conviction affirmed, 792 F.3d 1087 (9th Cir. 2015) |
| Holding | |
| Under Dirks, the jury could infer that the tipper here personally benefited from making a gift of confidential information to a trading relative. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinion | |
| Majority | Alito, joined by unanimous |
| Laws applied | |
| Securities Exchange Act of 1934 | |
Background edit
A jury convicted Bassam Yacoub Salman of securities fraud and U.S. District Judge Edward M. Chen then denied Salman's motion for a new trial. On July 6, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the conviction, in which Judge Jed S. Rakoff was joined by Judges Morgan Christen and Paul J. Watford.[3]
On October 5, 2016, oral arguments were heard, where Deputy Solicitor General Michael Dreeben appeared for the government.[4]
Opinion of the Court edit
On December 6, 2016, the Supreme Court delivered judgment in favor of the government, voting unanimously to affirm the lower court. Justice Samuel Alito authored the opinion of the Court.[2][5]
References edit
- ^ Adam Liptak (December 6, 2016). "Supreme Court Sides With Prosecutors in Insider Trading Case". The New York Times. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
- ^ a b Salman v. United States, No. 15–628, 580 U.S. ____ (2016).
- ^ United States v. Salman, 792 F.3d 1087 (9th Cir. 2015).
- ^ "Salman v. United States". Oyez Project. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
- ^ The Supreme Court, 2016 Term — Leading Cases, 131 Harv. L. Rev. 383 (2017).
Further reading edit
- Fisch, Jill E. (2016). "Family Ties: Salman and the Scope of Insider Trading". Stanford Law Review Online. 69: 46. SSRN 2849164.
External links edit
- Text of Salman v. United States, No. 15-628, 580 U.S. ___ (2016) is available from: Justia Oyez (oral argument audio) Supreme Court (slip opinion)
- SCOTUSblog coverage