The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association applauded a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that an antitrust lawsuit against Wall Street firms involving the pricing of initial public stock offerings cannot go forward.

“Today’s decision preserves longstanding market practices vital to the formation of capital and the strength of the global economy. Had the Court taken the opposite view, the industry would have faced massive legal exposure and a major engine of American growth would have been unnecessarily damaged,” said Marc Lackritz, president and CEO of SIFMA, in a news release. “Instead of opening the industry to destructive antitrust lawsuits, the Court correctly preserved and reaffirmed the Securities and Exchange Commission’s formative role in balancing competition and capital formation.”

“This is just one more example of insatiable trial lawyers abusing the courts to target a successful American industry. Sadly, we are fighting many such battles,” added Lackritz.

In April 2006, SIFMA’s predecessors, the Securities Industry Association and The Bond Market Association, filed a joint amicus brief with the National Chamber Litigation Center in this case. SIFMA says that today’s decision vindicates the arguments that SIFMA advanced on behalf of its members in its amicus brief.