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Business Assoctiations Keyed to Gabalson, 3rd Ed.
Dirks v. Securities and Exchange Commission
Citation:
463 U.S. 646 (1983)Facts
In 1973, Raymond Dirks, an officer at a New York broker-dealer firm specializing in insurance company securities analysis, received information from Ronald Secrist, a former Equity Funding officer, alleging that the company’s assets were vastly overstated due to fraudulent practices. Secrist urged Dirks to investigate and expose the fraud. Dirks conducted an investigation by interviewing Equity Funding officers and employees, some of whom confirmed the fraud allegations. Throughout his investigation, Dirks openly discussed the information with clients and investors, many of whom subsequently sold their Equity Funding holdings, totaling more than $16 million. Dirks also attempted to get the Wall Street Journal to publish the story, but they initially declined. During Dirks’ two-week investigation, Equity Funding’s stock price fell from $26 to less than $15 per share, leading to a trading halt. California insurance authorities subsequently uncovered evidence of fraud, and the SEC filed a complaint against Equity Funding. The Wall Street Journal eventually published the story based largely on Dirks’ information, and Equity Funding went into receivership.
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