On the bankruptcy trustee's complaint alleging securities fraud and common-law causes of conversion, breach of fiduciary duty, and tortious interference with business relationships/expectancy against the defendant, the bankruptcy court ruled that it had non-core related-to jurisdiction over the matters and, under Executive Benefits Ins. Agency v. Arkison (In re Bellingham Ins. Agency, Inc.), ___ U.S. ___, 134 S. Ct. 2165, 2170 (2014), could enter final judgment with the consent of the parties. Accordingly, the court granted summary judgment to the defendant.

    In ascertaining the applicable choice-of-law rules governing disputes arising from a Nebraska resident's business transactions with a Colorado corporation, the court determined that the "most significant relationship" test favored Colorado because the alleged fraud and wrongful refusal to transfer stock that caused harm to the debtor occurred in Colorado. The adoption of the U.C.C. displaced the bankruptcy estate's common-law claims, so the court dismissed those. Moreover, even if those causes of action were not supplanted by the U.C.C., the claims were not brought within Colorado's three-year statute of limitation and were dismissed as untimely. The trustee unsuccessfully argued that the "continuing tort" doctrine should apply. Likewise, with regard to the trustee's allegation of federal securities law violations, the court found it to be untimely as it was filed outside of the two-year statute of limitations.