Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's of London

45 F.4th 1301
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedAugust 19, 2022
Docket20-13604
StatusPublished

This text of 45 F.4th 1301 (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's of London) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's of London, 45 F.4th 1301 (11th Cir. 2022).

Opinion

USCA11 Case: 20-13604 Date Filed: 08/19/2022 Page: 1 of 18

[PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

____________________

No. 20-13604 ____________________

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION, as receiver for Omni National Bank, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus CERTAIN UNDERWRITERS AT LLOYD’S OF LONDON,

Defendant-Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia D.C. Docket No. 1:19-cv-03127-TCB ____________________ USCA11 Case: 20-13604 Date Filed: 08/19/2022 Page: 2 of 18

2 Opinion of the Court 20-13604

Before ROSENBAUM, TJOFLAT, Circuit Judges, and STEELE,* District Judge. TJOFLAT, Circuit Judge: This appeal requires us to decide when a plaintiff must de- mand prejudgment interest to be timely under Georgia law. In a prior case, a federal district court decided in a declaratory judgment action that an insurance policy issued by Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London (“Underwriters”) covered certain negligent ac- tions undertaken by the former directors and officers of Omni Na- tional Bank (“Omni”) during the 2008 banking crisis. Following this declaration, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), acting in Omni’s name as Omni’s receiver, demanded payment and prejudgment interest from Underwriters under the insurance policy for a stipulated judgment previously entered against three of Omni’s former directors and officers for $10 mil- lion, the limit of Underwriters’ insurance policy. Underwriters paid the $10 million once the Supreme Court denied certiorari for its appeal from the declaratory judgment but refused to pay pre- judgment interest, causing the FDIC to institute this action. The District Court ruled that the FDIC’s demand for pre- judgment interest was untimely under Georgia law because the FDIC made its demand after the declaratory judgment was entered

* The Honorable John Steele, United States District Judge for the Middle Dis- trict of Florida, sitting by designation. USCA11 Case: 20-13604 Date Filed: 08/19/2022 Page: 3 of 18

20-13604 Opinion of the Court 3

and liability determined. On appeal, the FDIC argues that de- mands for prejudgment interest are timely under Georgia law so long as they are made before the entry of a coercive final judgment, which declaratory judgments are not. We agree and, accordingly, reverse the District Court. I.

In 2007, the United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) began investigating the low-income real estate loan practices of Omni, which were found to violate both internal policies and federal regulations.1 After this investigation began, Omni secured a policy with a $10 million liability limit from Un- derwriters to cover its directors and officers for wrongful conduct occurring between June 9, 2008, and June 9, 2009. During that pe- riod, Omni began foreclosing on many of the low-income proper- ties that had been subject to its bad loan practices. However, in- stead of selling these low-income properties to recoup its losses, Omni began investing money to renovate them, even after receiv- ing a CAMELS5 rating from the OCC in September 2008. 2 The

1 The OCC is tasked with implementing the National Bank Act. NationsBank of N.C. v. Variable Annuity Life Ins. Co., 513 U.S. 251, 256, 115 S. Ct. 810, 813 (1995). As a result, it has broad powers over banks in the United States, in- cluding the ability to appoint a receiver for a regulated national bank. 12 U.S.C. § 191(a). 2 The OCC ranks banks based on a CAMELS system of one through five, with one being the most stable and five being the least stable. The acronym CAM- ELS derives from the various aspects of a bank that the OCC considers in USCA11 Case: 20-13604 Date Filed: 08/19/2022 Page: 4 of 18

4 Opinion of the Court 20-13604

OCC declared Omni insolvent on March 27, 2009, and appointed the FDIC as Omni’s receiver. As Omni’s receiver, the FDIC was tasked with marshalling Omni’s assets, including any claims it had against its former directors and officers for negligence. Pursuant to this obligation, the FDIC sued Omni’s former directors and officers for negligence on March 16, 2012. In December 2013, Omni’s for- mer CEO Stephen Klein settled with the FDIC under the following terms: (1) a $10 million stipulated judgment would be entered against Klein; (2) the FDIC would only seek to recover the stipu- lated judgment against Klein through the Underwriters insurance policy; and (3) Klein would assign his rights under the Underwriters insurance policy to the FDIC. In May 2015, two more of Omni’s former directors and officers, Benjamin Cohen and Constance Per- rine, also entered into a settlement agreement with the FDIC un- der the same terms. Meanwhile, on May 18, 2012, Underwriters initiated its own lawsuit against the FDIC and Omni’s former directors and officers3 seeking a declaration that Underwriters’ 2008–2009 insurance

assessing risk, which are capital adequacy (C), assets (A), management capa- bility (M), earnings (E), liquidity (L), and sensitivity to market risk (S). Lewis Gaul & Jonathan Jones, CAMELS Ratings and Their Informational Content 5 (Off. of the Comptroller of the Currency, WP-2021-01, 2021), available at https://occ.gov/publications-and-resources/publications/economics/work- ing-papers-banking-perf-reg/pub-econ-working-paper-camels-ratings.pdf. 3 These former directors and officers included Klein, Cohen, and Perrine, but also included many more of Omni’s former directors and officers. USCA11 Case: 20-13604 Date Filed: 08/19/2022 Page: 5 of 18

20-13604 Opinion of the Court 5

policy did not cover the negligence of Omni’s former directors and officers during the policy period. 4 In response, Klein filed four counterclaims against Underwriters. Counts I and II of Klein’s counterclaims sought declarations that Underwriters’ policy cov- ered the directors’ and officers’ wrongful acts alleged in the lawsuit. Count III sought damages for Underwriters’ breach of contract in failing to pay for his legal fees and expenses under the insurance policy. Count IV sought a declaration that Underwriters acted in bad faith by denying coverage to Klein. Klein also filed a separate lawsuit against Underwriters alleging the same four claims. Klein did not make a demand for prejudgment interest in either his coun- terclaims or his separate lawsuit. As part of his settlement with the FDIC in December 2013, Klein voluntarily dismissed his counter- claims and separate lawsuit against Underwriters. Ultimately, the district court in Underwriters’ suit issued a declaration that the insurance policy covered the negligence of Omni’s former directors and officers to the tune of the policy lim- its: $10 million. Underwriters appealed the district court’s judg- ment and we affirmed. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s of London v. FDIC, 723 F. App’x 764 (11th Cir. 2018). Underwriters petitioned the Supreme Court for certiorari, which the Court denied in May 2018. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s of London v. FDIC, 138 S. Ct. 2584 (2018).

4 Pls.’ Compl. Decl. J., Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London v. FDIC, 2012 WL 6196558, No. 1:12-cv-01740-RLV (N.D. Ga May 18, 2012). USCA11 Case: 20-13604 Date Filed: 08/19/2022 Page: 6 of 18

6 Opinion of the Court 20-13604

Just before the Supreme Court denied certiorari, the FDIC sent a demand letter to Underwriters on April 2, 2018, demanding Underwriters pay the FDIC $10 million for the stipulated judgment and $3,004,287.67 in prejudgment interest under Georgia law.

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Bluebook (online)
45 F.4th 1301, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/federal-deposit-insurance-corporation-v-certain-underwriters-at-lloyds-of-ca11-2022.