Securities and Exchange Commission v. Bauer

Dist. Ct. erred in granting plaintiff-SEC’s motion for summary judgment in instant action under SEC Rule 10b-5, alleging that defendant-senior vice-president of mutual fund engaged in impermissible insider trading by redeeming her personal shares of said mutual fund shortly before fund’s net asset value was sharply reduced. Genuine issue remained as to whether defendant acted with requisite scienter where, although certain evidence suggested that, prior to instant sale of her mutual fund shares, plaintiff believed from certain non-public information that fund’s net asset value was greatly overstated, other evidence indicated that defendant’s decision to sell her shares in said fund was based on publicly known factors such as fund’s price volatility and its general poor performance. Ct. also found that remand was necessary for Dist. Ct. to determine whether plaintiff’s alleged conduct properly fit under misappropriation theory of insider trading.