Blockchain Technology Could, Ironically, Help Enable Securities Lawsuits

As every student of securities law learns, Section 11 of the 1933 Act provides one of the most powerful means of redress for investors in public offerings by exposing the issuer, underwriters and others to liability wherever an investor acquires the security issued pursuant to a materially false registration statement (and didn’t know about the falsehood).  But there’s one big hitch:  only purchasers who can trace their securities to the faulty registration statement have standing.  This requirement can be impossible for purchasers on secondary markets where issuers have made multiple offerings of the security in question (e.g. through private or seasoned issuances).  But blockchain technology could change that.