Civil Liability and Civil Litigation under U.S. Securities Law

Author: Huang Zhenzhong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-07-01
Features: The United States is currently the most developed and comprehensive country in the world in terms of securities legislation. It has accumulated extensive legislative and practical experience in civil liability and civil litigation systems under securities law. Statistics show that in the mid-1990s, private individuals filed approximately 300 securities civil lawsuits annually in federal and state courts across the United States. From 1995 to 1998, over the four years, court judgments (including court-approved settlements) resulted in securities fraud compensation amounts exceeding $6.5 billion (including illegal gains ordered returned by the SEC). Securities regulatory law is like a magician's trick, shifting between two scenarios—sometimes mysterious and devilish, other times terrifyingly mundane. More unfortunately, securities regulatory law is built upon commercial and economic concepts that law students find unfamiliar and esoteric. Americans find it challenging to study and research U.S. securities regulatory law, so one can imagine the sweet and bitter struggles a Chinese scholar might experience while studying U.S. securities regulatory law, particularly in the context of civil liability and civil litigation under U.S. securities law, due to differences in political systems, economic environments, and cultural backgrounds.