Dimension Financial Corporation v. Board Of Governors Of The Federal Reserve System

744 F.2d 1402, 1984 U.S. App. LEXIS 18314
CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedSeptember 24, 1984
Docket84-1011
StatusPublished

This text of 744 F.2d 1402 (Dimension Financial Corporation v. Board Of Governors Of The Federal Reserve System) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dimension Financial Corporation v. Board Of Governors Of The Federal Reserve System, 744 F.2d 1402, 1984 U.S. App. LEXIS 18314 (1st Cir. 1984).

Opinion

744 F.2d 1402

53 USLW 2198

DIMENSION FINANCIAL CORPORATION, Daniel T. Carroll, Harold
D. Dufek, William L. Mitchell, Ronald L. Shaffer, A. Gary
Shilling, State of Ohio, Ohio Division of Savings and Loan
Associations, Ohio Deposit Guarantee Fund, Horizon Savings
and Loan Company, Horizon Service Corporation, Permanent
Savings and Loan Association, Financial Institutions
Assurance Corporation, First Bancorporation, Colorado
Industrial Bankers Association, Fort Lupton Industrial Bank,
Monroe Industrial Bank, Castle Rock Industrial Bank, Ark
Valley Industrial Bank, Household Weld County Industrial
Bank, Household Lamar Industrial Bank, Household Alamosa
Industrial Bank, Household Valley Industrial Bank, Household
Salida Industrial Bank, Copper State Thrift & Loan Company,
and Copper State Financial Corporation, Petitioners,
v.
BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF the FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM, Respondent,
American Financial Services Association and Household
Finance Corporation, Intervenors.

Nos. 83-2696, 84-1011, 84-1122, 84-1257, 84-1270 and 84-1407.

United States Court of Appeals,
Tenth Circuit.

Sept. 24, 1984.

Jeffrey S. Davidson of Kirkland & Ellis, Washington, D.C., (Dennis M. Gingold, Washington, D.C., with him on brief), for petitioners Dimension Financial Corp., Daniel T. Carroll, Harold D. Dufek, William L. Mitchell, Ronald L. Shaffer and A. Gary Shilling.

John D. Hawke, Jr. of Arnold & Porter, Washington, D.C., for petitioners First Bancorporation, Colorado Indus. Bankers Ass'n, Fort Lupton Indus. Bank, Monroe Indus. Bank, Castle Rock Indus. Bank, Ark Valley Indus. Bank, Household Weld County Indus. Bank, Household Lamar Indus. Bank, Household Alamosa Indus. Bank, Household Valley Indus. Bank, Household Salida Indus. Bank, Copper State Thrift & Loan Co., Copper State Financial Corp., and intervenors American Financial Services Ass'n and Household Finance Corp.

Anthony J. Celebrezze, Jr., Atty. Gen., Connie J. Harris, Asst. Atty. Gen., State of Ohio, Columbus, Ohio, filed a brief on behalf of petitioners State of Ohio and Ohio Div. of Sav. and Loan Associations.

Thomas B. Ridgley, Roger A. Yurchuck, Robert W. Minor and Philip A. Brown, of Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease, Columbus, Ohio, filed a brief on behalf of petitioners Ohio Deposit Guarantee Fund, Horizon Sav. and Loan Co., Horizon Service Corp. and Permanent Sav. and Loan Ass'n.

James D. Blount, Jr. and John L. Jernigan, of Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan, Raleigh, N.C., filed a brief on behalf of petitioner Financial Institutions Assurance Corp.

Richard M. Ashton, Asst. Gen. Counsel, Bd. of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, D.C. (Richard K. Willard, Acting Asst. Atty. Gen., Civ. Div., U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., Michael Bradfield, Gen. Counsel, Bd. of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, D.C., with him on the brief), for respondent Bd. of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

James F. Bell and Arthur E. Wilmarth, Jr., of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, Washington, D.C., filed a brief on behalf of amicus curiae Conference of State Bank Sup'rs.

Before SETH, Chief Judge, and DOYLE and SEYMOUR, Circuit Judges.

SETH, Chief Judge.

This is a Petition for Review of changes made by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Regulation Y (12 C.F.R. Part 225--1983) as it defines which financial institutions are "banks" and thus come under the Bank Holding Company Act (12 U.S.C. Secs. 1841-50). The acquisition of a "bank" requires prior approval by the Board of Governors and the company which acquires a "bank" becomes a "bank holding company" subject to the Act. A "bank holding company" is a company which has control over any "bank." 12 U.S.C. Sec. 1841(a)(1). What was a "bank" in the original Act depended on its charter. Since the enactment of the Holding Company Act the definition of a "bank" has been narrowed by several statutory changes.

In 1966 the charter test was abandoned and a "bank" was defined as an institution which accepted deposits which "the depositor has a legal right to withdraw on demand." The Board agreed with the change. Then in 1970 the BHCA was amended further to provide that a "bank" was an institution which accepted deposits "which the depositor has a legal right to withdraw on demand" (as before), but added "and engages in the business of making commercial loans." (12 U.S.C. Sec. 1841(c)) The definition was thus narrowed to require that both the deposit and commercial elements must be present to constitute a "bank." It is pursuant to this statutory provision or definitions that the Board argues it proceeded in its changes of Regulation Y with which we are here concerned. The Board's changes redefined the demand and the commercial loan components of the statutory provisions. The statute states what sort of demand deposits are to be used but as to loans only says "engages in the business of making commercial loans."

The new and challenged Regulation Y defines "commercial loans" in 12 C.F.R. part 225, Sec. 225.2:

"(B) 'commercial loans' means any loan other than a loan to an individual for personal, family, household, or charitable purposes, and includes the purchase of retail installment loans or commercial paper, certificates of deposit, bankers' acceptances, and similar money market instruments, the extension of broker call loans, the sale of federal funds, and the deposit of interest-bearing funds."

The challenge by petitioner goes to the inclusion of the "other than" transactions as commercial loans.

The purpose of the Bank Holding Company Act, as amended, is stated in S.Rep. No. 1084, 91st Cong., 2d Sess., reprinted in [1970] U.S. Code Cong. & Ad. News 5519, 5541.

This review concerns, with the changes in Regulation Y, both the demand deposit element of the definition in the new Regulation Y and the definition of "commercial loans" therein.

We have considered in First Bancorporation v. Board of Governors, 728 F.2d 434 (10th Cir.), the demand deposit aspect in the context of an order directed to one or two institutions and also generally. There would seem to be no need to repeat or add to what was there said and we adhere to that opinion.

The matter of the Board's new and changed view as to what constitutes a "commercial loan" under the 1970 Amendment (the Act) requires some further consideration.

I. "Commercial Loans"

The definition of "commercial loans" since 1970 was developed by regulatory agencies in determinations that particular transactions were not commercial loans under the Act. These exclusions have been explained by comparisons with the attributes of transactions generally accepted in the business as commercial loans. The rationalizations are not as important for our purposes as are the conclusions which were reached.

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744 F.2d 1402, 1984 U.S. App. LEXIS 18314, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dimension-financial-corporation-v-board-of-governors-of-the-federal-ca1-1984.