272
Opinion of the Court
Darnell-Taenzer Lumber Co., 245 U. S. 531, 533 (1918)),19 and
the reasons that supported conforming Clayton Act causation to the general tendency apply just as readily to the present facts, underscoring the obvious congressional adoption of the Clayton Act direct-injury limitation among the requirements of § 1964(c).20 If the nonpurchasing customers were
19 SIPC tries to avoid foundering on the rule that creditors generally may not sue for injury affecting their debtors' solvency by arguing that those customers that owned manipulated securities themselves were victims of Holmes' fraud. See Brief for Respondent 39, n. 185 (citing Ashland Oil, Inc. v. Arnett, 875 F. 2d 1271, 1280 (CA7 1989); Ocean Energy, 868 F. 2d, at 744-747; Bankers Trust Co. v. Rhoades, 859 F. 2d 1096, 1100- 1101 (CA2 1988), cert. denied, 490 U. S. 1007 (1989)). While that may well be true, since SIPC does not claim subrogation to the rights of the customers that purchased manipulated securities, see supra, at 270-271, it gains nothing by the point.
We further note that SIPC alleged in the courts below that, in late May 1981, Joseph Lugo, an officer of FSSC and one of the alleged conspirators, parked manipulated stock in the accounts of customers, among them Holmes, who actively participated in the parking transaction involving his account. See Statement of Background and Facts, 1 App. 223-225. Lugo "sold" securities owned by FSSC to customers at market price and "bought" back the same securities some days later at the same price plus interest. Under applicable regulations, a broker-dealer must discount the stock it holds in its own account, see 17 CFR § 240.15c3-1(c)(2)(iv)(F)(1)(vi) (1991), and the sham transactions allowed FSSC to avoid the discount. But for the parking transactions, FSSC would allegedly have failed capital requirements sooner; would have been shut down by regulators; and would not have dragged Sebag with it in its demise. 1 App. 231. Thus, their customers would have been injured to a lesser extent. Id., at 229, 231. We do not rule out that, if, by engaging in the parking transactions, the conspirators committed mail fraud, wire fraud, or "fraud in the sale of securities," see 18 U. S. C. §§ 1961(1)(B) and (D) (1988 ed., Supp. I), the broker-dealers' customers might be proximately injured by these offenses. See, e. g., Taffet v. Southern Co., 930 F. 2d 847, 856-857 (CA11 1991); County of Suffolk v. Long Island Lighting Co., 907 F. 2d 1295, 1311-1312 (CA2 1990). However this may be, SIPC in its brief on the merits places exclusive reliance on a manipulation theory and is completely silent about the alleged parking scheme.
20 As we said in Associated General Contractors, "the infinite variety of claims that may arise make it virtually impossible to announce a black-letter rule that will dictate the result in every case." 459 U. S., at 536
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