Central Bank of Denver, N. A. v. First Interstate Bank of Denver, N. A., 511 U.S. 164, 11 (1994)

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174

CENTRAL BANK OF DENVER, N. A. v. FIRST INTERSTATE BANK OF DENVER, N. A.

Opinion of the Court

misleading practices that might injure them—suggested that § 10(b) should also reach negligent conduct. Id., at 198. We rejected that argument, concluding that the SEC's interpretation would "add a gloss to the operative language of the statute quite different from its commonly accepted meaning." Id., at 199.

In Santa Fe Industries, another case involving "the reach and coverage of § 10(b)," 430 U. S., at 464, we considered whether § 10(b) "reached breaches of fiduciary duty by a majority against minority shareholders without any charge of misrepresentation or lack of disclosure." Id., at 470 (internal quotation marks omitted). We held that it did not, reaffirming our decision in Ernst & Ernst and emphasizing that the "language of § 10(b) gives no indication that Congress meant to prohibit any conduct not involving manipulation or deception." 430 U. S., at 473.

Later, in Chiarella, we considered whether § 10(b) is violated when a person trades securities without disclosing inside information. We held that § 10(b) is not violated under those circumstances unless the trader has an independent duty of disclosure. In reaching our conclusion, we noted that "not every instance of financial unfairness constitutes fraudulent activity under § 10(b)." 445 U. S., at 232. We stated that "the 1934 Act cannot be read more broadly than its language and the statutory scheme reasonably permit," and we found "no basis for applying . . . a new and different theory of liability" in that case. Id., at 234 (internal quotation marks omitted). "Section 10(b) is aptly described as a catchall provision, but what it catches must be fraud. When an allegation of fraud is based upon nondisclosure, there can be no fraud absent a duty to speak." Id., at 234-235.

Adherence to the text in defining the conduct covered by § 10(b) is consistent with our decisions interpreting other provisions of the securities Acts. In Pinter v. Dahl, 486 U. S. 622 (1988), for example, we interpreted the word "seller" in § 12(1) of the 1933 Act by "look[ing] first at the

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