In re the Liquidation of United American Bank in Knoxville

743 S.W.2d 911, 1987 Tenn. LEXIS 1072
CourtTennessee Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 8, 1987
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 743 S.W.2d 911 (In re the Liquidation of United American Bank in Knoxville) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Tennessee Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re the Liquidation of United American Bank in Knoxville, 743 S.W.2d 911, 1987 Tenn. LEXIS 1072 (Tenn. 1987).

Opinions

OPINION

DROWOTA, Justice.

This case involves numerous parties who have intervened in the pending liquidation proceedings for the United American Bank (UAB) in Knoxville.1 The only issue decided in this opinion is whether a purchase and assumption agreement entered into by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), acting both as the statutorily appointed receiver (FDIC-R) and in its corporate capacity (FDIC-C), and First Tennessee Bank (FTB) created a voidable or illegal preference under Tennessee law. The operative facts are essentially undisputed; the issue is fundamentally a question of law.

I.

On February 14, 1983, the Tennessee State Connissioner of Banking (now known as the Commissioner of Financial Institutions; hereinafter, the Commissioner) determined that UAB was insolvent and, under the authority of T.C.A. § 45-2-1502(c)(l), closed and took possession of UAB, a federally insured state chartered banking corporation. Notice of Possession was filed on February 14, 1983. The Commissioner then appointed the FDIC as receiver pursuant to T.C.A. § 45-2-802; the FDIC duly accepted this appointment under 12 U.S.C. § 1821(e). The FDIC acts in a dual capacity in such situations, both as the receiver of the state chartered bank and as corporate insurer of the deposits held by the insolvent institution under Federal and State banking law.

Although the Commissioner did not act to close and take possession of UAB until February 14, this action had been anticipated and preparations for closure began the previous day, February 13. The FDIC sought bids from banks willing to enter into what is known as a purchase and assumption agreement by which a qualified bank would purchase assets of the insolvent and assume liabilities, including deposit liabilities, from the receiver to prevent disruption of banking services in the community, to preserve the going concern value of the failed bank, and to minimize the loss to the FDIC insurance fund. A number of banks were invited to bid for UAB, and negotiations were undertaken with FTB; these negotiations continued until an agreement was reached early on the morning of February 15, 1983. FTB entered into the Purchase and Assumption Agreement (the Agreement) on February 15 with FDIC-R and FDIC-C. The Agreement provided that FTB would assume certain liabilities and purchase certain assets of UAB; FTB acquired the assets reflected on UAB’s books as of the date of closing and assumed all liabilities of UAB except those not reflected on UAB's books as of closing, those contingent in nature, or those liabilities that represented the subordinated debt of UAB. FTB also agreed to absorb the first $86.5 million in losses (representing [914]*914the amount of FTB’s bid for the going concern value of UAB); the FDIC agreed to reimburse FTB for any losses in excess of this amount. No money was actually exchanged among the parties.

On the morning of February 15, 1983, the FDIC petitioned the Knox County Chancery Court for ex parte approval of the sale of assets and an Order Approving Sale of Assets, Transfer of Liabilities, and Transfer of Trust Powers was entered the same day pursuant to T.C.A. §§ 45-2-802 and 45-2-1502(c). The FDIC-R’s Petition for Order Approving the Sale of Assets expressly stated that FTB was not assuming all liabilities of UAB. The closure emergency that necessitated expedient approval of the Agreement also made it difficult for the parties to the Agreement to express their understanding and intentions adequately regarding unassumed liabilities; thus, after the dust settled, some shortcomings of the Agreement became apparent and the parties then entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (the Memorandum), dated March 16, 1983, to clarify the extent of FTB’s assumption of liabilities and the allocation of collection responsibilities. An Order Amending Order Approving Sale of Assets was entered ex parte on March 16, 1983. In addition, as FTB worked with the acquired assets of UAB, their actual value was revealed to be substantially less than anticipated by the parties to the Agreement.

Furthermore, the failure of UAB precipitated a chain of additional bank failures and in May, 1983, the City and County Bank of Knox County, another large bank in the Knoxville area, was closed by the Commissioner, who took possession and appointed the FDIC as receiver. A result of this was that FTB and FDIC-R now found themselves with a number of common debtors. Collection efforts began to conflict in some instances. FTB continued making loss assistance claims under the Agreement; eventually, FTB agreed to continue to try to collect certain UAB assets even after receiving reimbursements for losses, retaining a 40 percent fee to cover costs and remitting the remainder to the FDIC. Collection efforts, however, were not particularly successful. This arrangement did not resolve the problems with conflicting collection efforts. FTB found itself less and less in the business of banking and more and more in the position of a liquidator, incurring substantial costs and creating unpopular business relations in the community. A second Amendment to the Agreement was entered on May 20, 1983 (the Amendment). This Amendment was approved ex parte by the Knox County Chancery Court on June 24,1983. The loss assistance provided to FTB was modified to shift the carrying costs for certain assets acquired by FTB to the FDIC for a limited period. Chancellor Cate’s June 24 Order stated that the parties were seeking to make the Agreement and Memorandum more specific. Adjustments in the Agreement were continuing to be required in part due to the circumstances created by the failure of a number of banks in the region.

Almost a year after the Agreement was originally approved in Chancery Court in February, 1983, some Claimants began filing Motions to Intervene beginning on February 13, 1984.2 These Claimants sought to have the ex parte orders set aside. They contended that the Agreement, including its amendments, created an illegal and voidable preference under Tennessee law. According to Claimants’ theory, the preferential treatment arose when FDIC transferred virtually all of UAB’s assets to FTB but FTB failed to assume all of UAB’s liabilities, although assuming the deposit and certain other liabilities in full, leaving no fund from which FDIC-R could satisfy the claims of the unassumed creditors and other claimants on the same basis as the assumed creditors. The Chancellor conducted an intervention hearing, and on April 11, 1984, granted the Motions to Intervene.

During this period from June, 1983, when ex parte approval of the Amendment [915]*915was granted, and the Chancellor’s Order allowing Claimants’ Motions to Intervene, the need to consolidate and coordinate collection efforts became increasingly clear to FTB and the FDIC. To accomplish this most effectively, FTB and the FDIC concluded that certain assets transferred under the Agreement should be reacquired by the FDIC-R. The parties entered into a Modification of Agreement (the Modification), dated June 19, 1984, and filed a Petition for Order Approving Modification of Agreement on June 22, 1984.

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743 S.W.2d 911, 1987 Tenn. LEXIS 1072, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-liquidation-of-united-american-bank-in-knoxville-tenn-1987.