Claims involving the "raising of capital" don’t fall within the scope of North Carolina’s unfair and deceptive practices statute. That was the basis for the dismissal of Chapter 75 claims yesterday in two cases, one decided by the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the other by the North Carolina Business Court.

In the Court of Appeals case, Carcano v. JBSS, LLC, the plaintiffs claimed they had invested money based on misrepresentations by the defendants that the funds were for an interest in an LLC. The LLC, however, had never been formed.

The appellate court affirmed the dismissal of an unfair and deceptive practices claim based on these allegations, holding:

the most egregious allegations made against defendants, and the crux of plaintiffs’ claims, is that defendants ‘marketed membership in a fictional LLC’ which involved ‘deception, lies, and misrepresentations.’ Even taken as true, these facts do not constitute unfair and deceptive practices so as to violate Chapter 75. The allegations merely assert that defendants asked plaintiffs to invest in a business arrangement. These are actions which are capital raising ventures among sophisticated business entrepreneurs.

The Business Court case, decided the same day, is Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority v. Wachovia BankThe Hospital alleges that Wachovia mishandled millions of dollars of its funds. The Hospital asserted an unfair and deceptive practices claim, and argued that this wasn’t an exempted securities transaction because it was really a claim involving "investment advice."

Judge Tennille dismissed the Chapter 75 claim, rejecting the Hospital’s characterization and finding the claim to involve a securities transaction beyond the scope of the statute. He held that "given the ‘raising capital’ nature of this relationship, the Court finds that any wrongdoing by Wachovia in its administration of the securities lending program clearly falls within the purview of the securities transactions exception."