172
Opinion of the Court
Rule 10b-5, adopted by the SEC in 1942, casts the proscription in similar terms:
"It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or indirectly, by the use of any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce, or of the mails or of any facility of any national securities exchange,
"(a) To employ any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud,
"(b) To make any untrue statement of a material fact or to omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, or
"(c) To engage in any act, practice, or course of business which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon any person,
"in connection with the purchase or sale of any security." 17 CFR § 240.10b-5 (1993).
In our cases addressing § 10(b) and Rule 10b-5, we have confronted two main issues. First, we have determined the scope of conduct prohibited by § 10(b). See, e. g., Dirks v. SEC, 463 U. S. 646 (1983); Aaron v. SEC, 446 U. S. 680 (1980); Chiarella v. United States, 445 U. S. 222 (1980); Santa Fe Industries, Inc. v. Green, 430 U. S. 462 (1977); Ernst & Ernst v. Hochfelder, 425 U. S. 185 (1976). Second, in cases where the defendant has committed a violation of § 10(b), we have decided questions about the elements of the 10b-5 private liability scheme: for example, whether there is a right to contribution, what the statute of limitations is, whether there is a reliance requirement, and whether there is an in pari delicto defense. See Musick, Peeler & Garrett v. Employers Ins. of Wausau, 508 U. S. 286 (1993); Lampf, Pleva, Lipkind, Prupis & Petigrow v. Gilbertson, 501 U. S. 350 (1991); Basic Inc. v. Levinson, 485 U. S. 224 (1988); Bateman Eichler, Hill Richards, Inc. v. Berner, 472 U. S. 299 (1985); see also Blue Chip Stamps, supra; Schlick v. Penn-Dixie Cement Corp.,
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