Sivertsen v. Bancamerica-Blair Corp.

43 F. Supp. 233, 1940 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2070
CourtDistrict Court, D. Minnesota
DecidedDecember 21, 1940
DocketNo. 79
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 43 F. Supp. 233 (Sivertsen v. Bancamerica-Blair Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sivertsen v. Bancamerica-Blair Corp., 43 F. Supp. 233, 1940 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2070 (mnd 1940).

Opinion

NORDBYE, District Judge.

The question before the Court is limited to its jurisdiction. In June, 1939, plaintiff attempted to obtain in personam jurisdiction by serving the Secretary of State and the Chairman of the Securities Commission, relying on Minnesota statutes as the basis for the power of the Court over the defendant. The plaintiff seeks to recover the amount paid for certain securities on the theory that the sale of unregistered securities renders the contract void. Defendant concedes, for the purpose of this motion, that it was transacting a securities business in Minnesota from May, 1929, to October, 1931, without a license as a foreign corporation or a license as a broker under the Blue Sky Law, Mason’s Mi'nn.St.1927, § 3996-1 et seq., and without registering securities which it sold. It is the plaintiff’s position that defendant illegally carried on a security business in this State during the years in question, and notwithstanding its withdrawal from the State in 1931, it was estopped, when service was attempted in 1939, to deny its compliance with the pertinent Minnesota statutes relating to foreign corporations doing business herein in selling securities or acting, as unlicensed brokers, and thereby became amenable to the service of process provided in such statutes.

Section 7493, Mason’s Minnesota Statutes 1927, the statute in effect during the period defendant was doing business herein, provides that every foreign corporation, before it shall be authorized to do business in the State, shall appoint an agent authorized to accept service of process, and where an agent cannot be found in the county of his residence, service may be made upon the Secretary of State. It must be conceded that this statute cannot avail plaintiff because no agent was appointed by defendant, and the only manner in which service could [236]*236be made upon the Secretary of State would be upon a showing that the designated agent could not be found in the county of his residence. Consequently, in absence of the appointment of an agent by the defendant, there was no one to be served. This the plaintiff recognizes, and concedes that there was an obvious deficiency in the statute during this period. However, he urges that Section 7494, Mason’s Minnesota Statutes 1927, remedies this deficiency in Section 7493. The pertinent portion of Section 7494 reads:

“Any foreign corporation licensed to do business in this state may withdraw therefrom upon filing with the secretary of state a duly certified copy of a resolution duly passed by unanimous vote of its board of directors or corresponding board, or by majority vote of its stockholders, directing such withdrawal and irrevocably appointing the secretary of State of Minnesota and his successors in authority the agent of said withdrawing corporation for service of legal process and other notices upon it in any action or proceeding of any nature or kind arising out of or involving anything done or omitted by said foreign corporation in this state while licensed to do business here. Such appointment of said agent shall continue in force as long as any cause of action, right, or claim against said corporation survives in this state; and service upon such agent shall be deemed personal service upon the foreign corporation so appointing him.”

A reading of this statute, however, obviously indicates that it is not mandatory. Under the circumstances herein, there being no formal withdrawal, one cannot spell out of this statute any duty on the part of this corporation to appoint the Secretary of State as its agent. Furthermore, no provision is to be found in this statute for any notice to the corporation. It may be urged that, if one formally withdraws from the State in compliance with this provision and irrevocably appoints the Secretary of State as agent, it is not necessary to provide for any notice of the service upon an agent specifically designated' by the corporation. However, if one seeks to apply this statute on the basis of an estoppel, it is apparent that the absence of any provision whereby notice would be given to the corporation of any attempted service would conflict with the requirements of due process. See Wuchter v. Pizzutti, 276 U.S. 13, 48 S.Ct. 259, 72 L.Ed. 446, 57 A.L.R. 1230.

In view of the foregoing, it is not necessary to discuss the effect of the repeal of Sections 7493 and 7494 on April 20, 1935, when the Minnesota Legislature adopted the Foreign Corporation Act, Laws of 1935, Chapter 200.

But plaintiff earnestly urges that, if the Foreign Corporation laws are not applicable, defendant’s failure to comply with Section 3996-11, Mason’s Minnesota • Statutes 1927, renders it amenable to the jurisdiction of this Court by the service upon the Chairman of the Securities Commission; that is, by reason of the defendant’s non-compliance with this statute, it is now estopped to deny the appointment of the Commissioner as its agent and that this fiction of appointment survives its departure from the State as fully as if it had expressly appointed the Commissioner as its agent under the Act. The section in question reads:

“Every non-resident person shall, before having any securities registered or being licensed as a broker or agent, appoint the chairman of the commission, and his successor in office, his attorney, upon whom process may be served in any action or proceeding against such person or in which such person may be a party, in relation to or involving any transaction covered by this act, which appointment shall be irrevocable. Service upon such attorney shall be as valid and binding as if due and personal service had been made upon such person. Such service shall be by duplicate copies, one of which shall be filed in the office of the commission and the other immediately forwarded by registered mail to the person so served at the address on file with the commission. Provided, that any such appointment shall become effective upon the registration of the securities or the issuance of the license in connection with which such appointment was filed.”

Plaintiff reasons that the Minnesota decisions relating to foreign insurance companies unlawfully doing business in this State are analogous to the present situation and are controlling in the construction of the instant statute. He cites in support of his position, among other Minnesota cases, Kulberg v. Fraternal Union of America, 131 Minn. 131, 154 N.W. 748; [237]*237Braunstein v. Fraternal Union of America, 133 Minn. 8, 157 N.W. 721; Massey S. S. Co. v. Norske Lloyd Ins. Co., 153 Minn. 136, 189 N.W. 714. Clearly, it was the duty of the defendant to become licensed as a broker and to register the securities to be sold by it in this State before it launched upon such business. The purpose of the statute was to secure local jurisdiction whenever a non-resident became licensed as a broker or sold registered securities herein. No broker, resident or non-resident, could sell securities within the State without being licensed. Section 3996-11 is a part of a comprehensive chapter dealing with the sale of securities in this State. A consideration of the other sections will more clearly indicate the purpose of the Legislature. It appears that the Legislature sought to prohibit the sale of securities by either residents or nonresidents unless registered; that no sale should be made except by a licensed broker or agent; and that, as a condition precedent to such registration or licensing, the non-resident seller was required to appoint irrevocably the Commissioner as his attorney upon whom process may be served.

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Sivertsen v. Banc-America-Blair Corp.
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4 N.W.2d 89 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1942)

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Bluebook (online)
43 F. Supp. 233, 1940 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2070, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sivertsen-v-bancamerica-blair-corp-mnd-1940.