Dakota. Reliant was in the ?nal stages of planning a takeover of Dakota Gasworks, Inc., a natural gas distributor that operated solely within North Dakota. Emerson went on a weekend ?shing trip with his uncle, Ernest Wallace. Emerson mentioned to Wallace that he had been putting in a lot of extra hours at the of?ce planning a takeover of Dakota Gasworks. When he returned from the ?shing trip, Wallace purchased $20,000 worth of Reliant stock. Three weeks later, Reliant made a tender offer to Dakota Gasworks stockholders and purchased 57 percent of Dakota Gasworks stock. Over the next two weeks, the price of Reliant stock rose 72 percent before leveling out. Wallace then sold his Reliant stock for a gross pro?t of $14,400. Using the information presented in the chapter, answer the following questions.
1 Would registration with the SEC be required for Dakota Gasworks securities? Why or why not?
2 Did Emerson violate Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and SEC Rule 10b-5? Why or why not?
3 What theory or theories might a court use to hold Wallace liable for insider trading?