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Cite as:  594 U. S. ____ (2021) 

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the 
preliminary  print  of  the  United  States  Reports.  Readers  are  requested  to 
notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash-
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SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

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No. 20–222 
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GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP, INC., ET AL., 
PETITIONERS v. ARKANSAS TEACHER 
RETIREMENT SYSTEM, ET AL. 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 
APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT 

[June 21, 2021] 

JUSTICE BARRETT delivered the opinion of the Court. 
This case involves a securities-fraud class action filed by
several pension funds against The Goldman Sachs Group, 
Inc., and three of its former executives (collectively, Gold-
man).  Plaintiffs allege that Goldman maintained an artifi-
cially  inflated  stock  price  by  making  generic  statements
about  its  ability  to  manage  conflicts—for  example,  “We
have extensive procedures and controls that are designed to 
identify  and  address  conflicts  of  interest.”    Plaintiffs  say
that Goldman’s generic statements were false or misleading
in light of several undisclosed conflicts of interest, and that 
once  the  truth  about  Goldman’s  conflicts  came  out,  Gold-
man’s stock price dropped and shareholders suffered losses.
Below, this securities-fraud class action proceeded in typ-
ical fashion.  Plaintiffs sought to certify a class of Goldman 
shareholders by invoking the presumption endorsed by this 
Court in Basic Inc. v. Levinson, 485 U. S. 224 (1988).  The 
Basic presumption is premised on the theory that investors 
rely on the market price of a company’s security, which in
an efficient market incorporates all of the company’s public