In a thought-provoking piece titled “Is Political Corruption Securities Fraud,” Cooley LLP engages with the idea of whether political corruption can be considered as securities fraud. They reference Matt Levine’s mantra in the “Money Stuff” column on Bloomberg where he posits, “everything is securities fraud.”
However, Levine isn’t making a sweeping statement to indict every odd business transaction. His point is to underscore how securities law in the US has such broad reach that a multitude of actions can potentially be seen as fraudulent. Levine is careful to illuminate the substance behind the claim by explaining the basic idea.
Yet, can this theory extend to graft within the political domain? This forms the crux of the Cooley LLP’s discussion. The question arises from recent decisions where the court held that investment decisions influenced by white-collar crimes such as political corruption can indeed fall within the ambit of securities fraud.
An in-depth comprehension of these perspectives could have significant implications for the scope of securities fraud; especially in an era where the overlap of politics, business, and law is becoming increasingly unavoidable.
For a more comprehensive understanding of this intricate legal issue, the original piece by Cooley LLP is accessible at JDSupra.