The United States District Court for the District of Delaware denied a plaintiff’s attempt at a private remedy action for a violation of Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Rule 10b-17.  See Gold v. Ford Motor Company, Civil Action No. 10-587-LPS (D.Del.2013).

No court has recognized such a private right of action under Rule 10b-17.  This Rule requires issuers to provide timely notice of dividends, stock splits, and rights offerings.  Essentially, the district court concluded that Rule 10b-17 does not contain an intention or unambiguously conferred private right of action.

In short, courts are reluctant to create new private rights of action under the federal securities laws, and this court’s decision is yet another example of that line of cases.