It is unlawful for any person, in connection with the offer, sale or purchase of any security, directly or indirectly:

(1) To employ any device, scheme or artifice to defraud;

(2) To make any untrue statement of a material fact or to omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading; or

(3) To engage in any act, practice or course of business which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon any person.

Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 73-201

  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • Person: means an individual, a corporation, a partnership, an association, a joint stock company, a trust where the interests of the beneficiaries are evidenced by a security, an unincorporated organization, a government, or a political subdivision of a government. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 73-103
  • Security: means any note; stock; treasury stock; bond; debenture; evidence of indebtedness; certificate of interest or participation in any profit-sharing agreement; collateral-trust certificate; preorganization certificate or subscription; transferable share; investment contract, including pyramid promotion which includes any plan or operation for the sale or distribution of property, services, or any other thing of value wherein a person for a consideration is offered an opportunity to obtain a benefit which is based in whole or in part on the inducement, by himself or herself or by others, of additional persons to purchase the same or a similar opportunity; voting-trust certificate; certificate of deposit for a security; certificate of interest of participation in an oil, gas or mining title or lease or in payments out of production under such a title or lease; options on commodities; viatical settlement investment; or, in general, any interest or instrument commonly known as a "security" or any certificate of interest or participation in, temporary or interim certificate, for, receipt for guarantee of, or warrant or right to subscribe to or purchase, any of the aforegoing. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 73-103
  • State: means the District of Columbia or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or any state, territory, possession, or other jurisdiction of the United States other than the State of Delaware. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 17-101

In interpreting this section, courts will be guided by the interpretations given by federal courts to similar language set forth in § 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 [15 U.S.C. § 77q] and Rule 10b-5 [17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5] promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, to include, without limitation, any difference in pleading requirements governing actions brought by securities regulators as opposed to private litigants.

6 Del. C. 1953, § ?7303; 59 Del. Laws, c. 208, § ?1; 68 Del. Laws, c. 181, § ?16; 78 Del. Laws, c. 175, §§ ?118, 122; 79 Del. Laws, c. 182, § ?4;