University of New Hampshire Scholars\u27 Repository
Abstract
[Excerpt] “As securities fraud has grown increasingly transnational, it has become necessary to expand the reach of anti-fraud provisions to persons and entities participating in global securities markets. So far, however, no single antifraud provision exists to govern the entire global marketplace. Although each country strives to combat international securities fraud by using its own regulatory regime, problems can develop when extraterritorial application of national securities laws leads to regulatory overlapping or conflicts. In light of these problems, it is necessary to set forth clear guidelines for determining whether national securities laws can apply extraterritorially and, if so, how far they can extend. The U.S., in particular, has longstanding and extensive experience in seeking extraterritorial application of national securities laws. In doing so, the U.S. has developed several tests to justify extraterritoriality, and has bolstered a statutory basis for extraterritorial application of anti-fraud prohibitions in actions brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).