Local America Bank v. United States

52 Fed. Cl. 184, 89 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1725, 2002 U.S. Claims LEXIS 76, 2002 WL 500256
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedMarch 27, 2002
DocketNo. 96-584C
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 52 Fed. Cl. 184 (Local America 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
Local America Bank v. United States, 52 Fed. Cl. 184, 89 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1725, 2002 U.S. Claims LEXIS 76, 2002 WL 500256 (uscfc 2002).

Opinion

OPINION

BRUGGINK, Judge.

Pending in this Winstar-related1 case are plaintiff Local Oklahoma Bank’s (“Local’s”)2 Motion for Summary Judgment on Liability and defendant United States’ Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment, Motion to Dismiss, and Opposition to Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment. Oral argument is deemed unnecessary. For the reasons set out below, [185]*185Local’s motion is granted and the government’s motions are denied.

BACKGROUND

This is one of a series of “tax benefit” cases arising from efforts made by the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (“FSLIC”) and the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (“FHLBB”), against the backdrop of the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s, to avoid some of the costs associated with liquidating failing savings and loan institutions (“thrifts”). These efforts included assisting the plaintiffs in these cases, which were healthy (or at least healthier) institutions, to acquire these failing thrifts.

Local and the other such plaintiff banks contracted with FSLIC and FHLBB to take over certain thrifts in return for assistance, including reimbursement for losses sustained upon disposal of the failing thrifts’ “covered assets.”3 Under FSLIC-specific provisions existing in the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”) at the time, FSLIC’s reimbursement of covered asset losses was not included in gross income. As we held in Centex Corp. v. United States (“Centex I”), 48 Fed.Cl. 625, 632-37 (2001), the IRC also allowed a tax deduction for covered asset losses even though FSLIC reimbursed those losses with tax-free assistance. The plaintiffs claim that Congress’s enactment of § 13224 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (the “Guarini legislation”), which eliminated the covered asset loss deduction, constituted a breach of contract for which the government is liable for money damages.

In our second opinion in Centex (“Centex II”), we determined that, “[throughout the 1980s, the FSLIC and the FHLBB repeatedly explained to Congress that the FSLIC-specific tax provisions of the Internal Revenue Code reduced the costs to the FSLIC and the FHLBB of selling insolvent thrifts.” 49 Fed.Cl. 691, 693 (2001) (citing Expiring Tax Provisions: Hearing Before the Sub-comm. on Taxation and Debt Management of the S. Comm, on Fin., 100th Cong. 15 (1988) (statement of Lawrence J. White); Carryover of Net Operating Losses and Other Tax Attributes of Corporations: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Select Revenue Measures of the House Comm, on Ways and Means, 99th Cong. 173-77 (1985); Letter from FHLBB Members to Senator Gam (Feb. 14, 1986); FHLBB Annual Report 18 (1986)). We further found that the “tax benefits flowing from the FSLIC-specific tax provisions were, in effect, additional assets that the FSLIC and the FHLBB could market when approaching potential acquirers ____in and around 1988, tax experts concluded that one of these tax benefits was a deduction for covered asset losses.” Id. at 693.

Although these tax benefits were set to expire at the end of 1988, Congress, at FHLBB’s urging, enacted the Technical and Miscellaneous Revenue Act of 1988, Pub.L. No. 100-647, 102 Stat. 3342 (“TAMRA”). TAMRA extended the sunset of the FSLIC-specific tax provisions to December 31, 1989, but cut by fifty percent any tax benefits for FSLIC-assisted acquisitions occurring after December 31,1988.

Seeking to take advantage of the law as it existed in 1988, FHLBB devised the “Oklahoma Consolidation and Integration Plan,” under which fourteen insolvent thrifts were packaged into “market areas” and let out for bids. FHLBB Recommendation Memo. (Aug. 30,1988) at 1. The plan’s “Market Area #2” included two Tulsa, Oklahoma institutions: First Oklahoma Federal Savings Bank (“First Oklahoma”) and MidAmerica Federal Savings and Loan Association (“MidAmeri-ca”). Id. at 5. Packaged together, the two thrifts had assets of $526.06 million, regulatory capital of negative $32.30 million, and tangible capital of negative $38.52 million. Id. FHLBB placed the two thrifts into receivership, combined them, and renamed them Community Federal Savings and Loan [186]*186Association (“Community Federal”). Id. at 9.

On September 1, 1988, officials from FSLIC and Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka hosted a meeting for potential purchasers in order to invite proposals to acquire Community Federal and several other consolidations. Steptoe & Johnson Rpt. to the Oversight Brd. of the Resolution Trust Corp. (“RTC”) and The Congress on the 1988/89 FSLIC Assis. Agreements, Vol. II, App. H. (“Steptoe & Johnson Rpt.”) (Dec. 26, 1990) at 4. At the meeting, FHLBB distributed a document entitled “Information and Instructions For the Preparation and Submission of Proposals For the Acquisition of: Community Federal Savings and Loan Association Tulsa, Oklahoma” (the “RFP”).

The “Tax Benefits” section of the RFP stated the following:

In general, the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 presently contains three provisions that provide favorable Federal income tax consequences to a taxpayer that acquires a savings and loan institution in an FSLIC-assisted transaction. First, most FSLIC-assisted acquisitions will qualify as a tax-free reorganization under section 368(£)(1)(G) of the Code. Because of this the tax basis of the assets of the acquired Institution will carry over to the acquiror and permit the acquiror to recognize a tax loss upon the disposition of an acquired asset which has a tax basis greater than its fair market value. Second, if the transaction qualifies as a tax-free reorganization, section 382 of the Code generally will permit any net operating loss carryover of the acquired institution to be utilized by the acquiring institution to offset post-acquisition taxable income. Third, section 597 of the Code provides that FSLIC assistance payments received by a savings and loan institution are not includable in income and do not require a reduction in the basis of other assets. These consequences often occur under state income tax laws as well.
These provisions have the effect of permitting an acquiring institution to realize tax benefits attributable to a particular item even though FSLIC assistance is received with respect to such item. For example, if the acquiror receives coverage for’ capital losses incurred on the disposition of identified assets of the acquired institution, the acquiror is entitled to deduct such loss for federal income tax purposes, notwithstanding that it is reimbursed for the loss by the FSLIC, and that the FSLIC payment is tax free. Similarly, if payments are made by the FSLIC to an acquiror pursuant to a yield guarantee, such assistance need not be reported as taxable income by the acquiror.
These provisions were intended to aid the FSLIC by reducing the amount of FSLIC assistance that should be required by an acquiring institution for a particular cost, expense or loss by the amount of the tax benefit obtained by the acquiring institution with respect to such cost, expense or loss. This reduction in required assistance can be realized by the FSLIC in one of two ways: (1) Assistance amounts to be paid by FSLIC to the acquiring institution can be reduced by the amount of the tax benefit available to the acquiring institution with respect to the item for which assistance is being paid.

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Related

Local Oklahoma Bank, N.A. v. United States
452 F.3d 1371 (Federal Circuit, 2006)
Centex Corp. v. United States
395 F.3d 1283 (Federal Circuit, 2005)
Local Oklahoma Bank, N.A. v. United States
59 Fed. Cl. 713 (Federal Claims, 2004)
Temple-Inland, Inc. v. United States
59 Fed. Cl. 550 (Federal Claims, 2004)
National Australia Bank v. United States
55 Fed. Cl. 782 (Federal Claims, 2003)

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Bluebook (online)
52 Fed. Cl. 184, 89 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1725, 2002 U.S. Claims LEXIS 76, 2002 WL 500256, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/local-america-bank-v-united-states-uscfc-2002.