Federal Savings & Loan Insurance v. Capozzi

855 F.2d 1319, 1988 U.S. App. LEXIS 11574, 1988 WL 86806
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedAugust 24, 1988
DocketNo. 87-1696
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 855 F.2d 1319 (Federal Savings & Loan Insurance v. Capozzi) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Federal Savings & Loan Insurance v. Capozzi, 855 F.2d 1319, 1988 U.S. App. LEXIS 11574, 1988 WL 86806 (8th Cir. 1988).

Opinion

FAGG, Circuit Judge.

The Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (the FSLIC) brought this action in its own behalf and as conservator for Bohemian Savings and Loan Association (Bohemian), a federally insured, state-chartered savings and loan association located in St. Louis, Missouri. The FSLIC sought legal and equitable relief for violations of state and federal statutes and regulations, and for breaches of contract and fiduciary duties by, among others, Bohemian’s former directors.

The defendant directors moved to dismiss that portion of the complaint against them in which the FSLIC sued in its capacity as conservator for Bohemian. The district court granted the motion based on its determination the court lacked federal subject matter jurisdiction, see Federal Sav. & Loan Corp. v. Capozzi, 653 F.Supp. 591, 604 (E.D.Mo.1987), and entered the order as a final judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b). The FSLIC appeals, and we affirm.

I.

The jurisdictional statute applicable to the FSLIC provides:

Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
(A) the Corporation [the FSLIC] shall be deemed to be an agency of the United States within the meaning of section 451 of Title 28;
(B) any civil action, suit, or proceeding to which the Corporation [the FSLIC] shall be a party shall be deemed to arise under the laws of the United States * * *; and
(C) the Corporation [the FSLIC] may * * * remove any such action, suit, or proceeding from a State court to the United States district court * * *:
Provided, That any action, suit, or proceeding to which the Corporation [the FSLIC] is a party in its capacity as conservator, receiver, or other legal custodian of an insured State-chartered institution and which involves only the rights or obligations of investors, creditors, stockholders, and such institution under State law shall not be deemed to arise under the laws of the United States.

12 U.S.C. § 1730(k)(l). The FSLIC contends the district court committed error in granting defendants’ motion to dismiss because section 1730(k)(l) contains the authority for federal jurisdiction over this case in either of the following two provisions: First, in subsection (A), which the FSLIC argues provides an independent source of agency jurisdiction over suits commenced by federal agencies, see 28 U.S. C. § 1345; or second, in subsection (B), which creates broad federal question jurisdiction, see id. § 1331. The FSLIC contends subsection (B) is not limited by the clause at the end of section 1730(k)(l) (the [1321]*1321proviso) on the theory that the requirements of the proviso are not satisfied here. We disagree with each of these contentions.

II.

Initially, we consider the district court's ruling that agency jurisdiction is not available to the FSLIC under subsection (A) because the FSLIC is only an agency when it sues “in its corporate capacity.” Capozzi, 653 F.Supp. at 596. We understand the district court’s characterization to imply the FSLIC is an agency only when it sues to protect its own interests as an insurer or as a regulatory enforcer.

In reaching this conclusion, the district court based its analysis on the definition of agency contained in 28 U.S.C. § 451. See id. Section 451 defines certain governmental entities, including government corporations, as agencies “unless the context shows that such term was intended to be used in a more limited sense.” 28 U.S.C. § 451. The district court reasoned that to accord the FSLIC agency jurisdiction when it sues “in its capacity as conservator” would nullify the other provisions in the statute because the FSLIC would always have access to federal court. Capozzi, 653 F.Supp. at 596. The court concluded that “limiting the agency jurisdiction conferred in subsection (A) to actions brought by the FSLIC in its corporate capacity,” id., was necessary in order to give meaning to all portions of the statute. See id.

Although we reach the same result, we disagree with the court’s interpretation of the FSLIC’s agency status. Subsection (A) expressly provides the FSLIC is a federal agency. This grant of agency status is not conditional in the sense that the FSLIC is an agency in some contexts but not in others. We view the FSLIC as a federal agency regardless of its capacity in a particular suit. See, e.g., Federal Sav. & Loan Ins. Corp. v. Dixon, 835 F.2d 554, 558 (5th Cir.1987) (The “FSLIC, in its corporate form or not, is a governmental agency.”); Federal Sav. & Loan Ins. Corp. v. Ticktin, 832 F.2d 1438, 1440 (7th Cir.1987) (ordinary meaning of language is clear that the FSLIC is an agency), petition for cert. filed, 56 U.S.L.W. 3806 (U.S. May 12, 1988) (No. 87-1865); Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Sumner Fin. Corp., 602 F.2d 670, 679-80 (5th Cir.1979) (statute expressly states the FSLIC is an agency). As we will explain, this view continues to give effect to all parts of the statute. Our rejection of the district court’s dichotomy regarding the FSLIC’s agency status, however, does not dictate the result the FSLIC urges concerning the independent jurisdictional significance of subsection (A).

III.

We believe section 1730(k)(l) is an authoritative blueprint for federal subject matter jurisdiction in FSLIC cases. As a result, we agree with the Seventh Circuit in Ticktin that the FSLIC may not use its subsection (A) agency status to invoke jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1345 without regard to the other statutory restrictions contained in the remainder of section 1730(k)(l). See Ticktin, 832 F.2d at 1443-44. But see Federal Sav. & Loan Ins. Corp. v. Israel, 686 F.Supp. 819, 823-25 (C.D.Cal.1988); Federal Sav. & Loan Ins. Corp. v. T.G. Partners II, Ltd., 682 F.Supp. 894, 897 (N.D.Tex.1988); Federal Sav. & Loan Ins. Corp. v. Sajovich, 642 F.Supp. 74, 75-76 (C.D.Cal.1986). We are convinced that “by including part A in § 1730(k)(l) Congress [did not] intend[ ] to make the jurisdiction limiting proviso inapplicable to cases in which the FSLIC is the plaintiff.” Ticktin, 832 F.2d at 1443. The FSLIC’s contrary suggestion that we give subsection (A) an independent jurisdictional significance is misplaced for several reasons.

First, subsection (A) is not a grant of original jurisdiction to the federal district courts to hear cases in which the FSLIC is a party. This subsection does nothing more than confer federal agency status on the FSLIC. Any doubt about the significance of subsection (A) in this regard is resolved by reference to the legislative history. See

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855 F.2d 1319, 1988 U.S. App. LEXIS 11574, 1988 WL 86806, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/federal-savings-loan-insurance-v-capozzi-ca8-1988.