Securities Investor Protection Corp. v. Havener Securities Corp. (In re Securities & Exchange Commission)

2 B.R. 284, 22 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1015, 1980 Bankr. LEXIS 5674
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJanuary 22, 1980
DocketBankruptcy No. 72 Civ. 4350
StatusPublished

This text of 2 B.R. 284 (Securities Investor Protection Corp. v. Havener Securities Corp. (In re Securities & Exchange Commission)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Securities Investor Protection Corp. v. Havener Securities Corp. (In re Securities & Exchange Commission), 2 B.R. 284, 22 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1015, 1980 Bankr. LEXIS 5674 (S.D.N.Y. 1980).

Opinion

DECISION ON MOTION AND CROSS-MOTION

EDWARD J. RYAN, Bankruptcy Judge.

This liquidation proceeding pursuant to the Securities Investor Protection Act of 1970 (“SIPA”), 15 U.S.C. § 78fff(d), was commenced on October 13, 1972 (the “filing date”). These motions arise out of the dis-allowance by the trustee of Havener Securities Corp. (“Havener” or the “debtor”) of an open contractual commitment claim by a broker-dealer, Fahnestock & Co. (“Fahnes-tock”), pursuant to Section 6(d) of SIPA. Fahnestock moves for an order directing the trustee to complete its open contractual [287]*287commitment with Fahnestock pursuant to Section 6 of SIPA; the trustee cross-moves pursuant to Rules 56 and 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Rules 756 and 911 of the Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure for an order confirming the trustee’s determination, dated August 4, 1975, disallowing the Fahnestock claim, and awarding in favor of the trustee the attorneys’ fees incurred in connection with both the investigation of Fahnestock’s claim and the present cross-motion, upon the grounds that there is no genuine issue of fact to be tried and that Fahnestock’s claim has been pursued in bad faith.

On April 5, 1973, Fahnestock filed its claim in its “Statement of Open Contractual Commitment by Brokers and Dealers”, alleging that as of the filing date there were contracts outstanding stemming from Havener’s alleged agreement on trade date October 6, 1972, to purchase a total of 6,000 shares of the common stock of Power Conversion, Inc. (“PCI”), for an aggregate price of $180,250. On August 4, 1975, the trustee rendered his determination disallowing Fahnestock’s claim on the grounds that “the transactions upon which your [Fahnes-tock’s] claim is based were not open contractual commitments within the meaning of Section 6(d) of the Securities Investor Protection Act of 1970 (‘Act’), and for the further reason that in connection with said transactions, the activities of you [Fahnes-tock], JAB Securities Co., Inc. and/or the ultimate customers bar recovery under the Act.” Fahnestock served and filed its “Objection to The Determination of Trustee Disallowing Claim of Fahnestock & Co. Under The Securities Investor Protection Act” on September 4, 1975. Discovery and investigation were conducted by both Fah-nestock and the trustee prior to the filing of the instant motion and cross-motion. Fah-nestock’s motion is denied and the trustee’s cross-motion is granted.

The mechanics of the trades in PCI stock which are the subject of the instant motions and which are not in dispute are as follows:

On the morning of October 6, 1972, First National City Bank (“FNCB”) requested J.A.B. Securities, Inc. (“JAB”) to sell 6,300 shares of PCI common stock, an over-the-counter security;

By virtue of six separate orders over the course of approximately two hours, JAB requested Fahnestock to sell 6,000 of these shares;

Fahnestock, in turn, telephoned sell orders aggregating 6,000 shares to Havener with a settlement date of October 16, 1972.

The trustee further alleges the following:

1. JAB was acting as agent for FNCB and Fahnestock was acting as agent for JAB;

2. In requesting JAB to sell the PCI shares, FNCB was acting as agent for William Rodman (“Rodman”), a self-employed securities dealer trading in PCI stock (3,800 shares) and Thomas Zammas (“Zammas”) a broker-dealer actively trading PCI stock and a registered representative with C. I. Oren & Co., Inc., a market-maker in PCI (2,500 shares), both admitted participants in a scheme to manipulate the price of PCI stock;

3. No communications with respect to the transaction were received by Fahnes-tock from FNCB on October 6, 1972;

4. Prior to the filing date on October 9, 1979, Fahnestock was informed by Havener that Havener would not honor the trades in PCI stock for trade date October 6, 1972;

5. Fahnestock refused to confirm the PCI October 6, 1972 trades to JAB, refused to accept delivery of same from JAB, and failed to invoke procedures to close out the trades upon which the claim herein is based;

6. Fahnestock did not know of the interests of FNCB, Rodman or Zammas at the time of the transactions in question; and

7. At all times relevant hereto, Fahnes-tock was a member of the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) and the National Association of Securities Dealers (“NASD”), and JAB was a broker-dealer and also a member of NASD.

Fahnestock, on the other hand:

1. Denies any agency relationship between FNCB and Rodman and Zammas;

[288]*2882. Maintains that it did acknowledge the October 6, 1972 PCI trades to JAB, did complete the trades and did honor the PCI trades with FNCB;

3. Maintains that the trades were not repudiated prior to the filing date and that Fahnestock acted properly with respect to close-out procedures as an “interjected broker”; and

4. Maintains that it did know of FNCB’s interest in the PCI trades on October 6, 1972.

The trustee, joined to some extent by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (“SIPC”), asserts that the documentary evidence and federal banking law controvert Fahnestock’s claim that its ultimate customer was FNCB. He urges that since Fahnestock has the burden of proving a qualified customer interest pursuant to Section 6(d) of SIPA, summary judgment should be granted in favor of the trustee as a result of Fahnestock’s inability to prove the asserted customer interest. Furthermore, the trustee contends that summary judgment must be granted because the ultimate beneficiaries of a SIPA recovery would be Zammas and Rodman, neither of whom qualifies for SIPA Section 6(d) protection.

The trustee maintains that as of the filing date, the alleged contractual commitment upon which Fahnestock’s claim is founded had been repudiated and/or effectively canceled by Havener and, therefore, Fahnestock’s claim must be denied.

In addition, the trustee asserts that Fah-nestock’s failure to tender the shares in question or to invoke available close-out procedures following the settlement date of the October 6 trades, mandates disallowance of Fahnestock’s claim.

The trustee also asserts that Fahnestock’s failure to inquire into the essential facts concerning the October 6 trades, coupled with its status as an “interjected broker”, should preclude Fahnestock from having its claim satisfied out of public funds.

Finally, the trustee asserts that Fahnes-tock’s demonstrated bad faith in connection with the pursuit of its claim herein provides not only another ground for denying Fah-nestock’s claim, but also amply justifies imposing upon Fahnestock the trustee’s attorneys’ fees.

It is the position of Fahnestock that, in connection with the October 6 transaction, Fahnestock was acting on behalf of its customer FNCB at the request of JAB and, therefore, Fahnestock had the requisite customer interest in accordance with Section 6(d) of SIPA.

Furthermore, Fahnestock asserts that its entire claim qualifies for open contractual commitment coverage under SEC Rule S6d-1, which defines those SIPA Section 6(d) open contractual commitments which a SIPA trustee shall complete.

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2 B.R. 284, 22 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1015, 1980 Bankr. LEXIS 5674, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/securities-investor-protection-corp-v-havener-securities-corp-in-re-nysd-1980.