Securities Regulation
Intermediate
Materiality
A standard for deciding whether omitted or misstated information would matter to investors' decisions or to the total mix of available information.
Why It Matters
Materiality limits disclosure and fraud liability by distinguishing legally significant information from immaterial detail, while leaving room for context-specific judgment.
Selected Literature
A short list of directly relevant archive entries.
1984
Intermediate
Mandatory Disclosure and the Protection of Investors
Frank H. Easterbrook and Daniel R. Fischel
Virginia Law Review
2003
Advanced
2016
Advanced
The Economics of Disclosure and Financial Reporting Regulation: Evidence and Suggestions for Future Research
Christian Leuz and Peter D. Wysocki
Journal of Accounting Research
2017
Advanced
Related Cases
1976
Securities Regulation
TSC Industries, Inc. v. Northway, Inc.
426 U.S. 438 (1976)
Materiality standard for omissions in proxy statements.
1968
Securities Regulation
SEC v. Texas Gulf Sulphur Co.
401 F.2d 833 (2d Cir. 1968) (en banc)
Trading while in possession of material nonpublic information and the accuracy of corporate statements about a major mineral discovery.
1988
Securities Regulation
Basic Inc. v. Levinson
485 U.S. 224 (1988)
Materiality of merger negotiations and reliance in Rule 10b-5 class actions.
1977
Securities Regulation
Santa Fe Industries, Inc. v. Green
430 U.S. 462 (1977)
Whether unfairness in a freeze-out merger, without deception or manipulation, states a federal securities-fraud claim.