Supreme Court Denies Barclays’ Petition for Certiorari In Dark Pool Case

On Monday, April 30, 2018, the Supreme Court denied Barclays PLC’s (“Barclays”) petition for certiorari seeking review of the Second Circuit’s decision in Waggoner v. Barclays PLC, 875 F.3d 79 (2d Cir. 2017), affirming certification of a class of investors who sued Barclays for securities fraud tied to Barclays’ dark pool trading platform.  See Dunstan Prial, Supreme Court Won’t Hear Barclays Dark Pool Cert Appeal, Law360 (Apr. 30, 2018).  Barclays sought the U.S. Supreme Court’s review of two issues, including “[w]hether plaintiffs may invoke the fraud on the market presumption [of reliance] without direct evidence that the price of the security responded to new, material information during the class period.”  Petition for Writ of Certiorari at i, Barclays PLC, et al., v. Waggoner, et al. (Feb. 28, 2018) (No. 17-1209).  The Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari leaves the Second Circuit’s decision intact, which held, inter alia, that plaintiffs seeking class certification under the fraud on the market presumption need not always offer direct evidence of price impact in order to demonstrate market efficiency.  Waggoner, 875 F.3d at 106.