In Re Firstcorp, Incorporated

973 F.2d 243, 1992 U.S. App. LEXIS 18271, 23 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 483
CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedAugust 10, 1992
Docket92-1108
StatusPublished

This text of 973 F.2d 243 (In Re Firstcorp, Incorporated) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Firstcorp, Incorporated, 973 F.2d 243, 1992 U.S. App. LEXIS 18271, 23 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 483 (1st Cir. 1992).

Opinion

973 F.2d 243

61 USLW 2113, 23 Bankr.Ct.Dec. 483, Bankr.
L. Rep. P 74,802

In re FIRSTCORP, INCORPORATED, Debtor.
RESOLUTION TRUST CORPORATION; Sir Walter Management,
Incorporated; Office of Thrift Supervision,
Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v.
FIRSTCORP, INCORPORATED; Alfred P. Carlton, Jr., Trustee,
successor-in-interest to the Debtor, Firstcorp,
Incorporated, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 92-1108.

United States Court of Appeals,
Fourth Circuit.

Argued June 3, 1992.
Decided Aug. 10, 1992.

Lacy H. Reaves, Poyner & Spruill, Raleigh, N.C., argued (Alfred P. Carlton, Jr., McNair Law Firm, on brief), for defendants-appellants.

Harvey Alan Levin, Asst. Chief Counsel, Office of Thrift Supervision, Washington, D.C., argued, for Appellee OTS (Michael Edward Tucci, Morrison & Hecker, Washington, D.C., on brief), for plaintiffs-appellees RTC and Sir Walter Management. (Jonathan B. Taylor, Sr. Atty., Resolution Trust Corp., Washington, D.C., Jonathan R. Harkavy, Martha A. Geer, Patterson, Harkavy, Lawrence, Van Noppen & Okun, Greensboro, N.C., on brief), for plaintiffs-appellees RTC and Sir Walter Management.

Before PHILLIPS, SPROUSE, and WILKINSON, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

WILKINSON, Circuit Judge:

This case raises the question of the appropriate treatment under federal law of a savings and loan holding company's commitment to maintain the capital of a purchased savings and loan subsidiary when the holding company files for bankruptcy under Chapter 11. For the reasons that follow, we hold that the appellant holding company had undertaken a capital maintenance obligation in this case and that it was required under 11 U.S.C. § 365(o ) to cure any deficit in that obligation before it could reorganize under Chapter 11. In so holding, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

I.

The facts relevant to this appeal are not in dispute. Appellant Firstcorp, Inc., is a multiple savings and loan holding company based in Raleigh, North Carolina. As of the events in question, Firstcorp had two wholly owned subsidiaries, First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Raleigh (FF-Raleigh) and First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Durham (FF-Durham). Both FF-Raleigh and FF-Durham are federally insured savings and loan institutions.

Firstcorp acquired FF-Raleigh in March 1985. Under federal law, this acquisition required the approval of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB), which was then the primary regulator of federally chartered savings and loans. See 12 U.S.C. § 1730a(e) (1988), repealed by Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989, Pub.L. No. 101-73, Title IV, § 407, 103 Stat. 183, 363. FHLBB approved Firstcorp's application in FHLBB Resolution No. 85-219 (Mar. 29, 1985). That approval, however, was subject to numerous conditions. Condition 5 required Firstcorp to maintain FF-Raleigh's capital at or above a specified level:

[T]he acquisition of [FF-Raleigh] by Firstcorp is approved provided the following conditions are complied with in a manner satisfactory to the Supervisory Agent:

. . . . .

5. That, on the date that the proposed acquisition is consummated and at each calendar quarter thereafter for as long as Firstcorp controls [FF-Raleigh], the regulatory net worth of [FF-Raleigh] shall be maintained at the greater of: (1) three percent of total liabilities ..., or (2) a level consistent with that required by Section 563.13(b) of the Rules and Regulations for Insurance of Accounts ..., as now or hereafter in effect, and where necessary, to infuse sufficient additional equity capital, in a form satisfactory to the Supervisory Agent, to effect compliance with such requirement. [Emphasis in the original.]

In January 1990, operating losses caused by non-performing real estate loans made it likely that FF-Raleigh would be unable to satisfy the minimum capital requirements imposed by federal law. See 12 C.F.R. §§ 567.1-567.20 (1990). Firstcorp therefore requested from appellee Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), the regulatory successor to FHLBB, see 12 U.S.C. § 1462a(e) (Supp. II 1990), a "temporary forbearance" from the capital maintenance obligation imposed by FHLBB Resolution No. 85-219. OTS denied this request and directed Firstcorp on several occasions thereafter to bring FF-Raleigh into compliance with federal minimum capital requirements by infusing capital into FF-Raleigh. Although FF-Raleigh acknowledged that, as of March 31, 1990, its capital was less than that required by federal law, Firstcorp did not infuse any capital into FF-Raleigh. OTS has estimated that, as of the end of March, the deficiency in Firstcorp's capital maintenance obligation was about $6 million; by September 30, this figure had jumped to $45 million.

Following extensive negotiations, on November 30, 1990, FF-Raleigh and OTS entered into a consent agreement. That agreement, which contained an acknowledgement by FF-Raleigh that it had insufficient capital, imposed numerous restrictions on the continued operation of FF-Raleigh. It also explicitly provided that "[n]othing in this Agreement ... shall serve to preclude Firstcorp ... from honoring its net worth maintenance obligations pursuant to FHLBB Resolution 85-219, and [FF-Raleigh's] receiving the benefit of such obligations."

Also on November 30, OTS served Firstcorp with a notice of charges and hearing and with a temporary order to cease and desist. The notice of charges and hearing, issued pursuant to 12 U.S.C. § 1818(b), initiated an administrative proceeding against Firstcorp and charged it with committing an "unsafe or unsound practice" by failing to fulfill its obligation to maintain the capital of FF-Raleigh. The cease and desist order, issued pursuant to 12 U.S.C. § 1818(c), required Firstcorp, inter alia, to extinguish certain capital notes FF-Raleigh issued it and to transfer its ownership interest in FF-Durham to FF-Raleigh, both in partial satisfaction of its capital maintenance obligation.

In response to the OTS's actions, Firstcorp filed a complaint on December 4 in the Eastern District of North Carolina that sought to enjoin OTS from enforcing the cease and desist order. The next day, December 5, before the district court could rule on the complaint, Firstcorp filed a petition in bankruptcy under Chapter 11.1 Then, on December 7, OTS appointed appellee Resolution Trust Corp. (RTC) as receiver for FF-Raleigh based on the fact that FF-Raleigh was in an unsafe and unsound condition because it had insufficient capital. See 12 U.S.C. § 1464(d)(2)(A)(iii) (Supp. II 1990).

Following the appointment of RTC as receiver of FF-Raleigh, OTS chartered a new federal mutual savings institution, First Federal Savings Association of Raleigh (Raleigh Savings). RTC then entered into a "purchase and assumption" transaction with Raleigh Savings: in effect, Raleigh Savings assumed certain of FF-Raleigh's liabilities (including its deposit liabilities), and the new entity purchased certain of FF-Raleigh's assets. OTS then appointed RTC as the conservator of Raleigh Savings.

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973 F.2d 243, 1992 U.S. App. LEXIS 18271, 23 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 483, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-firstcorp-incorporated-ca1-1992.