Lampkin v. UBS Financial Services, Inc.

Individual retail-brokerage customers of Paine-Webber who purchased Enron securities, and Enron employees who acquired employee stock options, filed suit against subsidiaries of UBS, alleging violations of the securities laws for their role as a broker of Enron's employee stock option plan and for failure to disclose material information about Enron's financial manipulations to its retail investors.The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of the complaint for failure to state a claim under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The court held that plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that the grant of Enron options amounted to the sale of a security, and failed to establish that either defendant had material, nonpublic knowledge to disclose and a duty to disclose. Furthermore, the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying plaintiffs an additional chance to amend their complaint. View "Lampkin v. UBS Financial Services, Inc." on Justia Law