Cohen v. United States Trust Securities Corp.

40 N.E.2d 282, 311 Mass. 152, 1942 Mass. LEXIS 676
CourtMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
DecidedFebruary 26, 1942
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 40 N.E.2d 282 (Cohen v. United States Trust Securities Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cohen v. United States Trust Securities Corp., 40 N.E.2d 282, 311 Mass. 152, 1942 Mass. LEXIS 676 (Mass. 1942).

Opinion

Cox, J.

This is a bill in equity brought in March, 1932, for an accounting and other relief predicated upon allegations that the trust, hereinafter described, is entitled to reimbursement from the defendants. The plaintiffs were Jennie E. Cohen and Cecile Cohen, hereinafter referred to as the plaintiffs, and Nathan N. Thorner, all of whom purchased shares of the trust. The master to whom the suit was referred stated that no evidence was offered with respect to the “claim” of Thorner, but that it was agreed that he had died after the institution of this suit. It does not appear from the record that any representative of his appeared. Clara G. Horblit was allowed to intervene as a party plaintiff. She too purchased shares of the trust which she now holds. The defendants are the United States Trust Securities Corporation, hereinafter referred to as the management corporation, the eight individual trustees of the trust or their legal representatives, hereinafter referred to as the trustees, and the United States Trust Company, hereinafter referred to as the bank.

The management corporation was organized in 1925 and was dissolved by act of the Legislature in 1937. The bank owned all of its stock. All of the individual defendants were officers of the bank and of the management corporation, and constituted the entire membership of the finance committee of the bank and of the board of directors of the management corporation, and they were the trustees of the United Securities Trust Associates, hereinafter referred to as the trust, an unincorporated association in the form known as a Massachusetts trust, having transferable shares and having its affairs managed by trustees. The trust was created according to the declaration of trust on September 25, 1929, for the purpose of investing and dealing in stocks and securities of all kinds, and, generally, to carry on the [154]*154business of an investment trust. On September 25, 1929, the trustees voted to authorize the issue of two hundred thousand shares of the beneficial interest of the trust, without par value, but with a stated “capital” of $50 per share; and, on the same date, the management corporation entered into a management contract with the trust by which it engaged to purchase the entire issue of these shares for sale to the general public, and agreed to act as investment counsel and to handle the affairs of the trust in the investment of its funds. These shares were to be offered to the public at not less than $53.75 a share, and the management corporation was to take and pay for, on or before October 4, 1929, all unsold shares at $50 per share. On September 26, 1929, the management corporation entered into an agreement with a brokerage concern whereby the latter agreed to join with the management corporation in selling one hundred eighty thousand shares and to be obligated, with the management corporation, to take and pay for all shares remaining unsold on October 4, 1929, at $50 per share.

Steps were taken to comply with the statutes, commonly referred to as the blue sky law, in this Commonwealth and Rhode Island. On September 27, 1929, a circular that had been approved by the trustees, and which was the only one used in selling trust shares both before and after October 4, 1929, was issued. The circular represented, among other things, that, after the sale of the two hundred thousand shares, the trust would start in business with a capital of $10,000,000. Printed in this circular was the statement that its contents were subject to the complete provisions of the declaration of trust, to which reference was made, and that copies of it might be obtained upon request.

Many hundreds of persons purchased shares of the trust. A sharp drop and a considerable fluctuation in the price of securities occurred in late September and early October, 1929, although, commencing on October 4, 1929, the average prices of industrial securities recovered, to some extent, until October 14, 1929, when they began to decline and continued to do so thereafter. October 4, 1929, was the date for the closing and settlement for shares that had been [155]*155offered for sale. In this situation, a representative of the brokerage concern suggested that the offering of two hundred thousand shares be reduced by the number of shares that it and the management corporation had been unable to sell. At the suggestion of counsel, an agreement was made by all parties concerned, including the trustees, whereby the two hundred thousand shares were issued at $50 a share to the management corporation and paid for by its check, and at the same time, the trust repurchased twenty thousand shares each from the management corporation and the brokerage concern at the same price, so that, on October 4, 1929, there would be outstanding one hundred sixty thousand shares. The master finds that this repurchase was for the purpose of cancellation, and not for investment, “that is, it was intended by the parties to this transaction that these shares should be retired and not be resold thereafter.” He also finds that in “taking this action,” the defendants were actuated by two motives, (1) to protect the market value of the shares then outstanding, including those of the plaintiffs, and (2) to save a loss to the management corporation and the brokerage concern by relieving them of the obligation of purchasing the entire issue which they had been unable to sell to the public; that the trustees also believed that their action was authorized by the declaration of trust, that the fair value of the shares repurchased was not less than $50 per share, and that the transaction was in the interest of the shareholders. Further findings are that the repurchase was of substantial advantage to the shareholders; that none of the trustees received any personal advantage from the transaction; that the liquidating value of a share at the close of business, both on October 3 and 4, 1929, was at least $50, and that, in so far as it is a question of fact, and if the court should rule that the management corporation was not protected by the provisions of the declaration of trust and the action of the trustees thereunder, and that the repurchase was a breach of the management corporation’s contract with the trust, the trust sustained no damage thefieby. He reported that there was no evidence and that he was unable to find [156]*156what difference in the investment of the funds of the trust would have taken place had the management corporation and brokerage concern been required to retain the entire issue instead of returning the forty thousand shares. On January 16, 1930, the trustees voted to reduce the capital by $2,000,000 in respect of the forty thousand shares that had been repurchased and to cancel them. On that date the liquidating value of the shares was $46.32, as against $50 per share actually paid in. On January 24, 1930, the trustees sent a statement to the shareholders which disclosed, among other things, the then liquidating value of the outstanding shares as $46.32 and that the capital stock consisted of one hundred sixty thousand shares carried as a liability of $8,000,000. One of the main contentions of the plaintiffs and the intervener is that the repurchase of the forty thousand shares was without authority.

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Bluebook (online)
40 N.E.2d 282, 311 Mass. 152, 1942 Mass. LEXIS 676, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cohen-v-united-states-trust-securities-corp-mass-1942.