First Nationwide Bank v. United States

51 Fed. Cl. 762, 89 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1326, 2002 U.S. Claims LEXIS 50, 2002 WL 384320
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedMarch 8, 2002
DocketNo. 96-590C
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 51 Fed. Cl. 762 (First Nationwide Bank v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
First Nationwide Bank v. United States, 51 Fed. Cl. 762, 89 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1326, 2002 U.S. Claims LEXIS 50, 2002 WL 384320 (uscfc 2002).

Opinion

OPINION

BRUGGINK, Judge.

This contract action is one of several Wins-tar-related[763]*7631 cases pending before the court, all of which arise from the savings and loans crisis of the late 1980s. It is part of a subgroup of cases which also assert a different breach in the form of legislation (hereafter, the “Guarini” legislation)2 repealing certain tax deductions available to acquirers from the United States of distressed bank assets. We have previously held that the Guarini legislation breached a covenant of good faith and fair dealing implied in the acquisition contract between plaintiffs and the government. First Nationwide Bank v. United States (“First Nationwide II), 49 Fed.Cl. 750 (2001). Currently pending are cross-motions for summary judgment on whether plaintiffs are entitled to restitution of a portion of the benefits flowing to the United States, as well as plaintiffs’ motion to strike one of the exhibits to the Government’s motion. Oral argument was held February 28, 2002. For the reasons set out below, plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment is granted; the motion to strike is denied as moot; and the Government’s cross-motion is denied.

BACKGROUND3

Plaintiffs are First Nationwide Bank, First Gibraltar Holdings, Inc., and MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, Inc. They entered into an Assistance Agreement (the “Agreement”) with the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (“FSLIC”), under the terms of which they assumed the assets of five failed Texas financial institutions and received in exchange certain government assistance. One major component of the Agreement dealt with what occurred on the disposition of “covered assets.” These were assets of established book value taken over by plaintiffs (hereafter, “First Nationwide”). During the time the assets were being held, FSLIC guaranteed a minimum yield. Upon sale, the difference between the inherited book value and subsequent sales price was reimbursed by FSLIC to First Nationwide. Under the tax laws then in existence, the reimbursement was not treated as income. We also held earlier that a deduction for covered asset losses was available under the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”), notwithstanding the reimbursement. First Nationwide Bank v. United States (“First Nationwide I”), 48 Fed.Cl. 248, 261, 263-64 (2000). Indeed, this fact was used by FSLIC in attracting buyers like First Nationwide and formed a critical assumption behind the precise terms of the Agreement, shaping what the parties referred to as the “tax benefit” items. In First Nationwide II, we held that the United States breached an implied covenant of good faith and fan* dealing within the Agreement when, using its unique legislative powers, it retroactively reversed the tax deductibility of covered asset losses through enactment of the Guarini legislation. 49 Fed.Cl. at 755.

The negotiations leading to the tax benefit provisions of the Agreement are relevant. In 1988, FSLIC found itself in possession of a number of defunct financial institutions. As part of a much larger effort to satisfy its insurance obligations to depositors without bankrupting its reserves, the agency developed a plan to divest itself of a specific group of problem assets through the “Southwest Plan.” FSLIC sought interested purchasers through a Request for Proposals (“RFP”). In the RFP, it advertised the availability of [764]*764certain tax benefits, including the deduction of losses on covered assets. As we explained in First Nationwide II, FSLIC’s request for acquisition proposals specifically linked a reduction in what was otherwise anticipated to be necessary cash reimbursements from FSLIC to available tax incentives: ‘“The [tax] provisions were intended to aid the FSLIC by reducing the amount of FSLIC assistance that should be required by an acquiring institution ... by the amount of the tax benefit obtained____’ ” 49 Fed.Cl. at 751 (quoting the RFP).4

The RFP stated that bidders should offer to share tax benefits in one of two ways, either by converting them into a reduction in assistance amounts or by a later division of the actual tax benefits reaped by the bank. First Nationwide and FSLIC agreed on the former. Thus, under section 3(a)(1) of the Agreement, FSLIC reimbursed only the “After-Tax Amount” of covered asset losses incurred by First Nationwide. Rather than determining what First Nationwide’s actual tax savings were, the parties agreed on certain assumptions about the effective tax rate, divided the anticipated benefit two to one between First Nationwide and the Government, and then converted that assumption into a ten percent reduction in reimbursements on any particular asset. There can be no question that the parties understood that the unpaid ten percent represented the agency’s one-third share of First Nationwide’s tax benefits.

There were other items in the Agreement that could generate possible FSLIC reimbursements, such as yield maintenance, which was also subject to a ten percent reduction. As to all assistance, however, FSLIC was guaranteed that the sum of reductions in reimbursements due to tax sharing would amount to at least $30 million annually. This meant that, even if the reductions attributable to tax deductible items did not equal that amount, the full $30 million would nevertheless be credited against future payment obligations. The value of the tax deductions to First Nationwide, on the other hand, depended in a particular year upon whether, in light of its overall tax position, it could employ the deductions to offset income. As Richard P. Hodge testified during oral argument, however, if First Nationwide had not been able to use the deduction to offset corresponding income in a given year, the unused portion could be carried over as a net operating loss until it was eventually used.

The Agreement set up a complex mechanism of separate bookkeeping accounts to keep track of the amounts payable by or due to FSLIC. One account reflected amounts due from FSLIC, primarily consisting of reimbursement of ninety percent of the difference between the book value and sales price of a covered asset. Credits could be generated under many circumstances, including sale of a different asset at an amount in excess of book value. A different account kept track of First Nationwide’s payments toward the $30 million minimum per year. First Nationwide received a credit toward that minimum payment obligation for every dollar of reimbursement payment reductions generated by covered asset loss deductions.

The Guarini legislation specifically targeted and retroactively eliminated only the covered asset loss deduction. Other tax benefits were unaffected. After the breach, First Nationwide could only deduct the ten percent unreimbursed portion of covered asset losses. Mr. Hodge claims that the amount of covered asset losses rendered non-deductible by the Guarini legislation was $668,026,051. He calculates that the amount of assistance lost after Guarini due to the ten percent reduction in covered asset loss reimbursement is $74,225,116.

The mechanics of the Agreement were also unaffected after the repeal of the covered asset loss deductions. Thus, FSLIC and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), successor to FSLIC, continued to make assistance payments, including reimbursement for covered asset losses. Over [765]*765$1.3 billion was received after the effective date of the Guarini legislation.

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Bluebook (online)
51 Fed. Cl. 762, 89 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1326, 2002 U.S. Claims LEXIS 50, 2002 WL 384320, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/first-nationwide-bank-v-united-states-uscfc-2002.