Cite as: 508 U. S. 286 (1993)
Thomas, J., dissenting
10b-5 suggests that joint tortfeasors should enjoy a right to contribution. Section 10(b) makes it
"unlawful for any person . . .
. . . . . ". . . To use or employ, in connection with the purchase or sale of any security registered on a national securities exchange or any security not so registered, any manipulative or deceptive device or contrivance in contravention of such rules and regulations as the Commission may prescribe as necessary or appropriate in the public interest for the protection of investors." 15 U. S. C. § 78j(b).
Rule 10b-5 recasts this proscription in similar terms:
"It shall be unlawful for any person . . . "(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 (1992).
The sweeping words of § 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 ban manipulation, deception, or fraud in the purchase or sale of securities. "[A]ny person" who engages in such activity merits condemnation under the statute and the rule. Far from being entitled to seek the protection of § 10(b) and Rule 10b-5, joint tortfeasors must confess that these provisions were "expressly directed . . . to regulate their conduct for the benefit" of others. Northwest Airlines, supra, at 92.
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