Cite as: 511 U. S. 164 (1994)
Stevens, J., dissenting
and abetting decisions relied upon principles borrowed from tort law; in those cases, judges closer to the times and climate of the 73d Congress than we concluded that holding aiders and abettors liable was consonant with the Exchange Act's purpose to strengthen the antifraud remedies of the common law.2 One described the aiding and abetting theory, grounded in "general principles of tort law," as a "logical and natural complement" to the private § 10(b) action that furthered the Exchange Act's purpose of "creation and maintenance of a post-issuance securities market that is free from fraudulent practices." Brennan v. Midwestern United Life Ins. Co., 259 F. Supp. 673, 680 (ND Ind. 1966) (borrowing
Diamanthuset, Inc., 950 F. 2d 1478, 1483 (CA9 1991); Farlow v. Peat, Mar-wick, Mitchell & Co., 956 F. 2d 982, 986 (CA10 1992); Schneberger v. Wheeler, 859 F. 2d 1477, 1480 (CA11 1988). The only court not to have squarely recognized aiding and abetting in private § 10(b) actions has done so in an action brought by the SEC, see Dirks v. SEC, 681 F. 2d 824, 844 (CADC), rev'd on other grounds, 463 U. S. 646 (1983), and has suggested that such a claim was available in private actions, see Zoelsch v. Arthur Andersen & Co., 824 F. 2d 27, 35-36 (CADC 1987). The Seventh Circuit's test differs markedly from the other Circuits' in that it requires that the aider and abettor "commit one of the 'manipulative or deceptive' acts prohibited under section 10(b) and rule 10b-5." Robin v. Arthur Young & Co., 915 F. 2d 1120, 1123 (CA7 1990).
2 When § 10(b) was enacted, aiding and abetting liability was widely, albeit not universally, recognized in the law of torts and in state legislation prohibiting misrepresentation in the marketing of securities. See, e. g., 1 T. Cooley, Law of Torts 244 (3d ed. 1906) ("All who actively participate in any manner in the commission of a tort, or who command, direct, advise, encourage, aid or abet its commission, are jointly and severally liable therefor"). Section 16(1) of the Uniform Sale of Securities Act, 9 U. L. A. 385 (1932), conferred a right to sue aiders and abettors of securities fraud, as did the blue sky laws of 11 States. See Abrams, The Scope of Liability Under Section 12 of the Securities Act of 1933: "Participation" and the Pertinent Legislative Materials, 15 Ford. Urb. L. J. 877, 945 (1987). The courts' reliance on common-law tort principles in defining the scope of liability under § 10(b) was by no means an anomaly. See, e. g., American Soc. of Mechanical Engineers, Inc. v. Hydrolevel Corp., 456 U. S. 556, 565-574 (1982).
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