Home Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc.

525 F. Supp. 393, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15305
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Alabama
DecidedOctober 20, 1981
DocketCiv. A. No. CV 81-G-1569-S
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 525 F. Supp. 393 (Home Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Home Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., 525 F. Supp. 393, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15305 (N.D. Ala. 1981).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

GUIN, District Judge.

This cause is presently before the court on defendant’s motion to dismiss. Four savings and loan associations filed this action against Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. (Merrill Lynch). Plaintiffs allege that the defendant is receiving a brokerage fee in connection with the issuance of All Savers Certificates (ASC) by California Federal Savings and Loan Association (California Federal) in violation of regulations promulgated by the Depository Institutions Deregulation Committee (DIDC).

[395]*395The factual allegations of the complaint, which Merrill Lynch has not denied, concern transactions in which Merrill Lynch accepted orders from its customers for ASCs, and placed those funds with California Federal. Merrill Lynch transferred customers’ funds on deposit in its accounts to California Federal by wire transfer. California Federal allegedly pays Merrill Lynch a brokerage fee of one percent of all funds placed by Merrill Lynch with California Federal for ASCs. The plaintiffs contend that this fee should be considered as an additional yield on the ASCs, making the yield higher than allowed by law, and resulting in the loss of tax exempt status of the ASC to the customer. As a result of this allegedly impermissible conduct, the plaintiffs assert that Merrill Lynch is diverting funds from the local market and circumventing the intent of the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, through which Congress created the ASC.

The regulation that plaintiffs assert has been violated, promulgated in October of 1980, provides:

Any fee paid by a depository institution to a person who introduces a depositor to the institution must be paid in cash when paid for deposits subject to interest rate ceilings, and will be regarded as a payment of interest to the depositor for purposes of determining compliance with interest rate ceilings....

12 C.F.R. § 1204.110 (emphasis added). The other regulation upon which plaintiffs rely, 12 C.F.R. § 1204.116, describes ASCs and requires depository institutions to provide a specific notice to customers of the amount of interest that may be excluded from gross income for federal income tax purposes. Plaintiffs assert in their complaint that Merrill Lynch has not issued the notice required by the regulation. It is obvious from the regulation itself that it is the responsibility of the depository institution, in this case California Federal, to issue the required notice; the broker, Merrill Lynch, is not responsible for the issuance of such notice.

Plaintiffs’ suit is concerned entirely with alleged noncompliance with two DIDC regulations. These regulations were issued pursuant to the Depository Institutions Deregulation Act, 12 U.S.C. §§ 3501 et seq. There is no provision for enforcement of such regulations except in 12 U.S.C. § 3507. Section 3507 provides that compliance with regulations issued by DIDC shall be enforced by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB), under 12 U.S.C. § 1464(d). This section gives the FHLBB enforcement powers with respect to savings and loan associations, and expressly provides for suits by the FHLBB against federal savings and loan associations such as California Federal [12 U.S.C. § 1464(d)(3)(C)], as well as suits by federal savings and loan associations (such as plaintiffs in the present case) against the FHLBB [12 U.S.C. § 1464(d)(1)], No express private right of action, however, is given to federal savings and loan associations to seek to enforce the provisions of the deregulation act or regulations promulgated thereunder as against other federal savings and loan associations, much less as against Merrill Lynch or similarly situated entities.

Plaintiffs argue that Cort v. Ash, 422 U.S. 66, 95 S.Ct. 2080, 45 L.Ed.2d 26 (1975), supports plaintiffs’ argument that such a private cause of action may be implied from DIDC regulations. Plaintiffs would read Cort v. Ash as calling for the implication of private remedies for anyone who can claim to be an intended beneficiary of the law or regulation. In support of their claimed status as intended beneficiaries of the Tax Act, the plaintiffs refer to the legislative history of the act.

The legislative history of the All Savers legislation indicates that it was the intent of Congress to infuse new money into the ailing savings and loans industry, to create a savings incentive by providing for tax-free income on savings, and to channel money to qualified institutions in order to provide affordable mortgage financing. The plaintiffs argue that Congress intended to benefit local savings and loans and local housing markets. Although the court would like to find such an intent to benefit the local market, the excerpts from the Congressional Record submitted by plain[396]*396tiffs’ counsel do not support such a conclusion. Only one statement by one congressman referred to the concern for the “lack of savings in local banks and savings and loans .... ” 127 Cong.Rec. H3136 (daily ed. June 18,1981) (remarks of Congressman Harkin). The court concludes that this single reference is insufficient to support the conclusion that this legislation was enacted to benefit local savings and loans. There is absolutely nothing in the legislation itself that would require that ÁSCs be purchased only from those qualified institutions that are located in the area in which the purchaser resides, and this court will not imply such a requirement.

It is clear, however, that savings and loan associations in general are intended beneficiaries of the Tax Act. The plaintiffs assert that this fact alone is sufficient to create an implied right of action in their behalf. The Supreme Court has recently made clear that such an interpretation of Cort v. Ash is incorrect.

In Transamerica Mortgage Advisors, Inc. v. Lewis, 444 U.S. 11, 100 S.Ct. 242, 62 L.Ed.2d 146 (1979), plaintiffs sought creation of a private right of action under the Investment Advisors Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 80b-15. The district court declined to create a private right of action and dismissed the complaint. The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed. The United States Supreme Court affirmed in part, and reversed in part. The Court was willing to imply a private right of action for voiding a contract, since § 215 of the act expressly declared investment advisors’ contracts void if their formation or performance violated the act. In other words, congressional intent that a private right of action be implied was clear from the statute itself.

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HOME FED. SAV. & L. ASS'N OF SO. v. Merrill Lynch
525 F. Supp. 393 (N.D. Alabama, 1981)

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Bluebook (online)
525 F. Supp. 393, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15305, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/home-federal-savings-loan-assn-v-merrill-lynch-pierce-fenner-smith-alnd-1981.