Bank of Honolulu v. Hawaii Corp.

829 F.2d 813
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedOctober 2, 1987
DocketNo. 86-2746
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 829 F.2d 813 (Bank of Honolulu v. Hawaii Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bank of Honolulu v. Hawaii Corp., 829 F.2d 813 (9th Cir. 1987).

Opinion

NOONAN, Circuit Judge:

Bank of Honolulu (the Bank) appeals from an order of the district court sustaining an objection to proof of stock in the reorganization of The Hawaii Corporation (the Company). The district court had jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1334; jurisdiction in this court exists under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 because the district court’s order qualifies as a final collateral order meeting the criteria set by Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp., 337 U.S. 541, 69 S.Ct. 1221, 93 L.Ed. 1528 (1949); Matter of Hawaii Corp., 796 F.2d 1139 (9th Cir.1986). The case presents a classic conflict, between a lender holding collateral and another party with some claim to the same collateral. We reverse and remand for entry of judgment in favor of the Bank.

FACTS

In 1974 Randolph Crossley, a director and officer of the Company, borrowed a total of $79,875.50 from the Bank to buy the Company’s stock. He pledged the stock — a total of 20,769 shares — to the Bank as collateral, and the Bank took possession of his certificates. In 1977 Crossley defaulted on the loans; the Bank brought suit; the suit was ended in a settlement on September 14, 1977, reaffirming the Bank’s right to possession of the pledged stock.

Meanwhile, in 1976, the Company had entered bankruptcy. In 1978 John T. Goss, the trustee in bankruptcy (the Trustee) brought suit against Crossley and other former directors for malfeasance and misfeasance. The creditors of the Company sued the same parties. On October 26, 1979 both actions were settled. By the terms of this settlement the officers and directors, including Crossley, signed general releases by which they released all [815]*815“claims, demands, causes of action, or interests” against or in the Company.

On August 28, 1980 the district court, reviewing the Trustee’s plan of reorganization, found the Company to be insolvent and its stock without value. Subsequently, the Trustee’s management of the assets generated enough cash to pay all creditors in full and to pay a liquidating dividend to the stockholders. In January 1984 the Bank presented to the Trustee certificates for the 20,769 shares in order to qualify for this dividend. The Trustee objected on the ground that the general release of October 26, 1979 had released all of Crossley’s interest in the Company. On June 3, 1986 the district court sustained the Trustee’s objection. The Bank appealed.

ANALYSIS

The Trustee relies on the literal language of UCC § 8-207(1), Haw.Rev.Stat. 490:8-207(1):

Prior to due presentment for registration of transfer of a security in registered form the issuer or indenture trustee may treat the registered owner as the person exclusively entitled to vote, to receive notifications and otherwise to exercise all the rights and powers of an owner.

Crossley was the registered owner; the Bank never registered the stock. The case, therefore, is simple, says the Trustee. The company had the absolute right to deal with Crossley as the owner. Crossley, exercising all the rights and powers of an owner, released his interest. The Bank has nothing.

While this straightforward interpretation of UCC § 8-207 has a good deal of appeal when this statute is considered by itself, it is not appropriate to interpret the Uniform Commercial Code without consideration of other sections and the Code’s general thrust. In particular, UCC § 8-105 declares: “Securities governed by this Article are negotiable instruments.” A standard commentary repeats this sentence and adds: “The overriding objective of Article 8 is to confer negotiability upon securities governed by that Article.” Anderson Uniform Commercial Code, (1985) § 8-105:4. Negotiability means that the transferee takes the rights of the transferor. UCC § 8-301(1), Haw.Rev.Stat. § 490:8-301(1). Negotiability is negated when the transferor retains rights which, if exercised even fraudulently, will frustrate the exercise of rights by the transferee.

In addition to undermining the purpose of Article 8, the Trustee’s position runs counter to UCC § 8-105(2)(c), Haw.Rev. Stat. § 490:8-105(2)(c):

In any action on a security ... [w]hen signatures are admitted or established production of the instrument entitles a holder to recover on it unless the defendant establishes a defense or a defect going to the validity of the security____

The Trustee argues that the last part of this statute is to be read disjunctively so the section means the defendant wins either if it establishes a defect going to the validity of the security or if the defendant establishes a defense. This reading does not make a great deal of sense. To say that the defendant wins if it establishes a defense without qualification deprives the statute of its obvious purpose of enhancing negotiability. Indeed the last words of the statute referring to a defect do not even seem necessary in this interpretation. The statute makes more sense if it is read to say that the defendant wins only if it establishes either a defense or a defect which goes to the validity of the security.

A third difficulty with the Trustee’s position is the UCC’s treatment of an issuer’s lien. An issuer’s lien — a more substantial claim than the general release involved here — is valid against a purchaser of a security only if the lien is “noted conspicuously” on the certificate. UCC § 8-103(a); Haw.Rev.Stat. § 490:8-103. If the issuer may not at the inception of its relation with the registered owner create a secret right in its own favor, much less may the issuer do so after the owner has used his certificates to obtain credit from a lender.

A fourth and convergent objection to the Trustee’s position comes from the nature of the security interest created by [816]*816Crossley when he transferred his certificates to the Bank. The Bank’s security interest was superior to the interest of that of other creditors of Crossley. A security interest in collateral in the possession of the secured party and for which the secured party has given value is enforceable against any third party. UCC § 9-203, Haw.Rev.Stat. § 490:9-203. The Bank’s interest was then prior to that of other creditors of Crossley. The Company’s claim was no more than that of a later creditor. Crossley had no interest in the certificates that he could transfer to the Company by his general release. Indeed, although the Trustee claims he did, he may not even have attempted to make a transfer of such an interest. By the general release that he executed he gave up whatever interest of any kind he had. But he could not give up an interest he had already transferred to the Bank.

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Related

In Re The Hawaii Corporation
829 F.2d 813 (Ninth Circuit, 1987)

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829 F.2d 813, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bank-of-honolulu-v-hawaii-corp-ca9-1987.