D.M. Rothman & Co. v. Korea Commercial Bank

411 F.3d 90
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedJune 6, 2005
DocketNos. 03-7247(L), 03-7325(XAP)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 411 F.3d 90 (D.M. Rothman & Co. v. Korea Commercial Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
D.M. Rothman & Co. v. Korea Commercial Bank, 411 F.3d 90 (2d Cir. 2005).

Opinion

JOHN M. WALKER, JR., Chief Judge.

This ease presents the final installment in a trilogy of recent appeals involving the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (“PACA”), 7 U.S.C. § 499a, et seq., a statutory regime that gives growers and sellers of perishable produce priority interests in the assets of the brokers and dealers who purchase their goods on credit by imposing a statutory trust on the perishable goods and their proceeds. See E. Armata, Inc. v. Korea Commercial Bank, 367 F.3d 123 (2d Cir.2004); Am. Banana Co. v. Republic Nat’l Bank, 362 F.3d 33 (2d Cir.2004). Plaintiffs, sellers of perishable commodities, and defendant Korea Commercial Bank (“KCB”) appeal and cross-appeal, respectively, the February 3, 2003 judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Barbara S. Jones, District Judge), issued following a five-day bench trial, in which the district court (1) dismissed certain plaintiffs for failure to establish timely statutory notice of their PACA claims; (2) found KCB liable for receipt of PACA funds in breach of trust; and (3) ordered KCB to pay damages to the remaining plaintiffs limited to the amount of PACA funds the PACA trustee withdrew during the breach period to pay non-PACA creditors. See Albee Tomato Co., Inc. v. Korea Commercial Bank, 282 F.Supp.2d 6, 23 n. 25 (S.D.N.Y. 2003) (“Albee Tomato III”).

Our disposition of the present appeal necessarily awaited disposition of the two earlier cases, Ameñcan Banana and E. Armata, which established dispositive precedent. For the following reasons, we affirm all of the district court’s conclusions concerning PACA notice, vacate the district court’s imposition of liability on KCB, and remand for reconsideration of KCB’s liability in accordance with our holding in E. Armata.

BACKGROUND

I. PACA

Congress enacted PACA in order to provide growers and sellers of agricultural commodities with “a self-help tool ... enabling] them to protect themselves against the abnormal risk of losses resulting from slow-pay and no-pay practices by buyers or receivers of fruits and vegetables.” Regulations Under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act; Addition of Provisions To Effect a Statutory Trust, Final Rule, 49 Fed.Reg. 45735, *45737, 1984 WL 134664 (USDA Nov. 20, 1984) (“PACA Regs”). To accomplish this goal, PACA imposes a statutory trust (“PACA trust”) on any perishable commodities or their derivatives “received by a commission merchant, dealer, or broker [‘produce dealers’ or ‘PACA trustees’] ... and [on] any receivables or proceeds from the sale of such commodities or products for the benefit of all unpaid sellers, suppliers, and agents until full payment is made.” Id.; see 7 U.S.C. § 499e(c);1 see also Am. Banana, 362 F.3d at 36-38 (providing detailed discussion of PACA). A PACA trustee’s primary duty is to

maintain trust assets in a manner that such assets are freely available to satisfy outstanding obligations to sellers of perishable agricultural commodities. Any [94]*94act or omission which is inconsistent with this responsibility, including dissipation of trust assets, is unlawful and in violation of [PACA],

7 C.F.R. § 46.46(d)(1). PACA regulations define “dissipation” as “any act or failure to act which could result in the diversion of trust assets or which could prejudice or impair the ability of unpaid suppliers, sellers, or agents to recover money owed in connection with produce transactions.” Id. § 46.46(a)(2).

As beneficiaries of a PACA trust, growers and sellers of perishable agricultural commodities (“produce sellers” or “PACA beneficiaries”) retain the “right to recover against [PACA trustees] superior to all creditors, including secured creditors.” Endico Potatoes, Inc. v. CIT Group/Factoring, Inc., 67 F.3d 1063 (2d Cir.1995).2 Thus, PACA provides a means for produce sellers to protect themselves from “the abnormal risk of losses” inherent in the perishable commodities industry. PACA Regs, 49 Fed.Reg. at *45737.

General trust law applies to PACA trusts unless such law directly conflicts with the PACA statute. See Albee Tomato, Inc. v. A.B. Shalom Produce Corp., 155 F.3d 612, 615 (2d Cir.1998) (‘Albee Tomato II ”). One such conflict is that PACA “imposes a ‘non-segregated floating trust’ on [perishable] commodities and their derivatives, [which] permits the commingling of trust assets without defeating the trust.” See Endico Potatoes, 67 F.3d at 1067. As a result,

[t]rust assets are available for other uses by the [PACA trustee]. For example, trust assets may be used to pay other creditors. It is the [PACA trustee]^ responsibility ... to insure that it has sufficient assets to assure prompt payment for produce and that any beneficiary under the trust will receive full payment, including sufficient assets to cover the value of disputed shipments.

PACA Regs, 49 Fed.Reg. at *45738.

II. Facts

Plaintiffs’ PACA claims arose from their dealings with A.B. Shalom (“Shalom”), a produce dealer subject to the trustee duties imposed by PACA, to whom plaintiffs had sold PACA commodities. In 1986, KCB extended a revolving line of credit to Shalom in the form of “overdraft privileges” on a checking account (the “KCB Account”). The parties do not dispute that Shalom made regular deposits into the KCB Account of monies that were derived from sales of produce and, therefore, that the KCB account was a trust account subject to the provisions of PACA. Shalom also regularly drew upon the KCB Account’s credit line, which had a $150,000 limit during the relevant period, with the result that the KCB Account carried a perennially negative balance that was automatically reduced every time Shalom made a deposit of PACA trust funds. Although Shalom was apparently permitted to exceed the $150,000 credit limit at times, KCB often refused to honor checks drawn by Shalom that would exceed the limit and charged fees to the account for drawing upon insufficient funds. KCB also charged the account for deposited third-party checks that were dishonored and for interest accruing on Shalom’s negative balances.

As of August 26, 1988, Shalom ceased making payments to its PACA beneficiaries, including plaintiffs, thereby initiating [95]*95the “Breach Period.” Shalom’s KCB account was not frozen, however, until January 1990, when KCB was served with the complaint in this case. The district court found that on the first day of the Breach Period, the KCB account carried a negative balance of approximately —$90,948,3 see Albee Tomato III, 282 F.Supp.2d at 23 n. 25, reflecting the amount Shalom then owed KCB on its credit line.

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411 F.3d 90, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dm-rothman-co-v-korea-commercial-bank-ca2-2005.