On June 18, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that plaintiffs’ attorneys may not impose new restraints on the securities industry by bringing antitrust suits against investment bankers for the manner in which they conduct IPOs (“initial public offerings” of securities). The decision was a victory for WLF, which filed a brief arguing against expansion of antitrust laws. The Court agreed with WLF that the securities industry is already fully regulated under federal securities laws, and that permitting another layer of regulation would likely lead to conflicting rules. The underlying suits, filed against ten leading investment banks, arose out of IPOs for stocks during the “bubble” market of the late 1990s. The suits alleged that the defendants conspired to impose anticompetitive charges on IPO purchasers and to inflate the aftermarket prices of offered securities. The Court ruled that any such claims are actionable, if at all, only under the securities laws, not the antitrust laws.