Giesen v. London & Northwest American Mortg. Co.

102 F. 584, 42 C.C.A. 515, 1900 U.S. App. LEXIS 4581
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedApril 30, 1900
DocketNo. 1,339
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 102 F. 584 (Giesen v. London & Northwest American Mortg. Co.) 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
Giesen v. London & Northwest American Mortg. Co., 102 F. 584, 42 C.C.A. 515, 1900 U.S. App. LEXIS 4581 (8th Cir. 1900).

Opinion

TIIAYER, Circuit Judge,

after stating the case as above, delivered the opinion of the court.

When a person subscribes for stock either in a domestic or a foreign corporation, he thereby consents to be governed by the provisions of its charter or the general law under which it is incorporated, and by such by-laws of the corporation as may be lawfully enacted, and that his rights and liabilities as a stockholder shall be tested and determined with reference to such laws. The fact that a stockholder of a corporation is not a citizen or resident of the state or country where the corporation was incorporated does not exempt him from the operation of any of those provisions of the act of incorporation, be it a general or special act, which determine tho rights and liabilities of domestic shareholders, and regulate their dealings with the corporation. Every corporation carries its charter wherever it goes and is allowed to transact business; and, while a corporation may be restricted in the exercise of some of its powers while doing business in a foreign state, yet every one who deals, with it is bound 1o take notice of the authority that is conferred upon it by the act from which it derives its corporate existence. This is especially true of one who subscribes for stock, and thereby becomes a member of the company. Relfe v. Rundle, 103 U. S. 222, 226, 26 L. Ed. 337; Silver Mines v. Brown, 19 U. S. App. 203, 208, 7 C. C. A. 412, 58 Fed. 644. It has also been held that when a foreign sovereignty, having authority so to do, confers upon one of its corporations the right to readjust its indebtedness in a given manner, or to liquidate its affairs, or to make assessments upon shareholders, the right so conferred will be recognized and enforced by the courts oí the United ¡States, provided the foreign statute accords to all creditors and shareholders equal privileges, without reference to- their place of residence or citizenship-, and does not contravene the general poliev of our laws. Railway Co. v. Gebhard, 109 U. S. 527, 3 Sup. Ct. 363, 27 L. Ed. 1020. See, also, Hawkins v. Glenn, 131 U. S. 319, 9 Sup. Ct. 739, 33 L. Ed. 184; Glenn v. Liggett, 135 U. S. 533, 10 Sup. Ct. 867, 34 L. Ed. 262; First Nat. Bank of Deadwood v. Gustin-Winerva Con. Min. Co., 42 Minn. 327, 44 N. W. 198, 6 L. R. A. 676. It follows, therefore, that the defendant was and is [588]*588subject to all tbe provisions of tbe companies act of 1862 and tbe subsequent amendments thereof, that bis rights are to be determined thereby, and that be can only avoid liability as a' shareholder by showing that, prior to the commencement of the liquidation proceedings against the plaintiff company, he had done whatever was necessary under the provisions of that act to have his stock transferred upon the company’s books, and his name stricken from the list of registered shareholders or contributories. The findings by the trial court show that the defendant did nothing personally, prior to the commencement of the liquidation proceedings, to have his name removed from the list of registered shareholders. It is true that he had indorsed his stock certificate, and had subsequently executed a written assignment of his shares in the company, but he had made no application to it to have the stock transferred on its books; and it seems obvious, from the fact that he receipted for dividends for more than two years after he had sold and assigned his stock, -that he must have been aware that his transferee had not made an application to have the stock transferred on the company’s books, or that, if such application had been made, it had been for some reason denied, and that his name was still borne on the books as a registered shareholder. In point of fact, the stock was not transferred on the books when a transfer was solicited in December, 1891, because the transfer fee prescribed by the by-laws of the company was not paid; and, under the findings by the trial court, it is also manifest that the transfer of the stock could not have been lawfully made when it was solicited by the transferee, because the assignment of the shares was not stamped as it should have been to entitle it to registration. Under these circumstances it is clear, we think, in view of the construction that has heretofore been placed on the companies act by the courts of Great Britain, that the defendant, Giesen, cannot successfully claim exemption from liability as a stockholder. In the leading case of Oakes v. Turquand, L. R. 2 H. L. 325, 345, 349, the principle was established, and has since been firmly adhered to, that under the companies act a person who is liable to assessment, and to have his name placed on the list of contributories in liquidation proceedings, is any person who has agreed to become a member of the company, and whose name is upon the register of stockholders. A person whose name so appears upon the register of stockholders when liquidation proceedings are instituted (the same having been placed there originally with his consent) cannot avoid liability as a shareholder, and is estopped from so doing, although he was induced to become a subscriber through fraud. And in Gustard’s Case (In re European Central Ry. Co., L. R. 8 Eq. 438, 443), wherein it appeared that a stockholder had sold and assigned his stock prior to liquidation proceedings, and had sent the transfer to the company’s office to be recorded, and had not been notified that the company had declined to transfer it because of the alleged nonpayment of calls, it was held that the company was under no obligation to send a notice of its refusal to make the transfer, and that it was the stockholder’s duty to see that everything was complete, or, in other words, that everything had [589]*589been done to entitle him to a transfer of the shares upon the company’s books. In this country it has also been decided, under statutes requiring transfers of stock to be made on the books of the corporation, that the corporation may treat those persons as shareholders whose names appear as such on the books of the company, notwithstanding the fact that they have sold and assigned their stock to a third party, who has not perfected the transfer. Richmond v. Irons, 121 U. S. 27, 58, 59, 7 Sup. Ct. 788, 30 L. Ed. 864; Hawkins v. Glenn, 131 U. S. 319, 334, 335, 9 Sup. Ct. 739, 33 L. Ed. 384. This court has also pointed out on several occasions that a transfer of stock which is good and effectual, as between the vendor and the vendee, to vest the latter with a complete equitable title, may not be effectual to relieve the vendor from his liability to the corporation or its creditors, because in all matters relating to the internal government of the corporation the latter are entitled to treat those persons as shareholders whose names appear upon the register of shareholders, until their shares are transferred upon the books in the mode prescribed by the company’s charter and by-laws. Bank of Commerce v. Bank of Newport, 27 U. S. App. 486, 489, 11 C. C. A. 484, 63 Fed. 898; Horton v. Mercer, 36 U. S. App. 234, 238, 239, 18 C. C. A. 18, 71 Fed. 153.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Helvering v. Miller
75 F.2d 474 (Second Circuit, 1935)
Rogers v. Hill
60 F.2d 109 (Second Circuit, 1932)
Lum v. American Wheel & Vehicle Co.
133 P. 303 (California Supreme Court, 1913)
Evansville Union Stockyards Co. v. State ex rel. Eichel
101 N.E. 822 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1913)
Smoot v. Bankers Life Ass'n
120 S.W. 719 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1909)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
102 F. 584, 42 C.C.A. 515, 1900 U.S. App. LEXIS 4581, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/giesen-v-london-northwest-american-mortg-co-ca8-1900.