Wielgos v. Commonwealth Edison Co.

Commonwealth Edison (defendant) sold shares under a shelf registration while building nuclear reactors that needed NRC approval, publishing yearly cost projections that never accounted for the risk the NRC might deny a license. After Wielgos (plaintiff) bought shares, the NRC denied a license for one reactor and the stock dropped sharply. Wielgos sued under Securities Act section 11, claiming the projections were misleadingly incomplete; the district court found for Commonwealth Edison, and Wielgos appealed.

Whether a securities issuer may be held liable for misleading or omitted facts in its financial projections when the underlying facts are available in the public domain.