New CCH White Paper Examines Stoneridge Decision

CCH Securities Law Analyst, Author Available for Comment

(RIVERWOODS, ILL., January 23, 2008) – CCH securities law Principal Analyst and leading author on securities law, Jim Hamilton, JD, LLM, has released a white paper on the recent Supreme Court decision rejecting “scheme liability” in Stoneridge Investment Partners, LLC v. Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. CCH, a leading provider of securities law information, is part of Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.

In Stoneridge, investors used the theory of scheme liability to sue the suppliers to a company for securities fraud after the company misreported its transactions with the suppliers. The Court rejected the theory, holding that secondary non-speaking actors were not liable to private action under Exchange Act Rule 10b-5 since the investors cannot be said to have relied on any of the suppliers’ deceptive acts.

“This case generated intense interest and involved many groups who filed friend-of-the-court briefs, including a number of former SEC chairs and commissioners,” Hamilton said. “ Concerns ranged from the role of implied private securities fraud rights of action against secondary actors, such as investment banks and accounting firms, to the harm to U.S. market competitiveness that acceptance of scheme liability would work.”

In the white paper, Hamilton analyzes the Court’s reasoning and places the decision in context.

Hamilton has been tracking, analyzing and explaining securities law and regulation for nearly 30 years as an analyst for CCH. He has written and spoken extensively on federal securities law and has been cited as an authority by a federal court. His analysis of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Manual: A Handbook for the Act and SEC Rules, is considered a definitive explanation of the Act. Other works by Hamilton include the popular guidebook, Responsibilities of Corporate Officers and Directors under Federal Securities Law; the Guide to Internal Controls; and Informal Corporate Disclosure under Federal Securities Law.

In addition to his analysis for CCH, Hamilton’s blog Jim Hamilton’s World of Securities (www.jimhamiltonblog.blogspot.com) covers every level of securities regulation as it relates to public companies and serves as a forum to discuss Sarbanes-Oxley issues.

Members of the press interested in speaking with Jim Hamilton should contact: Leslie Bonacum at 847-267-7153, mediahelp@cch.com; or Neil Allen at 847-267-2179, neil.allen@wolterskluwer.com.

About Wolters Kluwer Law & Business

Wolters Kluwer Law & Business is a leading provider of research products and software solutions in key specialty areas for legal and business professionals, as well as casebooks and study aids for law students. Its major product lines include Aspen Publishers, CCH, Kluwer Law International and Loislaw. Its markets include law firms, law schools, corporate counsel and professionals requiring legal and compliance information. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business, a unit of Wolters Kluwer, is based in New York City and Riverwoods, Ill.

Wolters Kluwer is a leading global information services and publishing company. The company provides products and services for professionals in the health, tax, accounting, corporate, financial services, and legal and regulatory sectors. Wolters Kluwer had 2006 annual revenues of €3.4 billion, employs approximately 18,450 people worldwide, and maintains operations across Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific. Wolters Kluwer is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Its shares are quoted on Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices. For more information, visit www.wolterskluwer.com.

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