Weiss v. Dempsey-Tegeler & Co.

443 S.W.2d 934, 6 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 1091, 1969 Tex. App. LEXIS 2413
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 16, 1969
Docket7937
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 443 S.W.2d 934 (Weiss v. Dempsey-Tegeler & Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Weiss v. Dempsey-Tegeler & Co., 443 S.W.2d 934, 6 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 1091, 1969 Tex. App. LEXIS 2413 (Tex. Ct. App. 1969).

Opinion

JOY, Justice.

Suit alleging failure to perform upon agreement to purchase and deliver stock. Judgment for defendant and plaintiff appealed.

Appellant, Weiss, an individual, on August 19, 1966, telephoned appellee, Dempsey-Tegeler & Co., Inc., a stockbrokerage firm, and requested the appellee to purchase 30 shares of common stock of Wes-tec Corporation at the market price. Appellant requested that the certificate representing the shares of stock be issued in appellant’s name and mailed to him. Ap-pellee purchased the stock at a price of $54.50 per share and mailed a confirmation notice of the purchase to the appellant on the same date. The confirmation set forth August 25, 1966, as the payment due date for the shares of stock. The appellant paid a total of $1,656.60 to appellee on August 25, 1966, as full payment for the stock. The stock was purchased by appellee from Esteg & Co. who held the stock in “street name” or “street form”, terms used by brokerage firms to reflect that stock is held in the firm’s name but owned by customers or clients. Appellee, in its customary procedure, ordered the stock transferred to the appellant. However, on August 29, 1966, before the stock was actually transferred on the books of the transfer agent for Westec, the Securities Exchange Commission and the American Stock Exchange ordered all trading suspended in the stock, and the Federal District Court issued an injunction prohibiting any further transfers of the stock by the transfer agents. Apparently the trading in and transferring of the stock was stopped because of financial difficulties of Westec Corporation. Each month thereafter appellee mailed to appellant its statement of account reflecting that it held for appellant’s account the 30 shares of stock. Subsequent to the filing of this suit by appellant, the appellee delivered a certificate for 30 shares of Westec stock in street name of Esteg & Co., properly endorsed and therefore negotiable. Findings by the trial court reflect that the appellant could have sold the stock at any time between August 19, 1966, the date of the purchase, and August 29, 1966, after which date the stock for all practical purposes was worthless.

No statement of facts is presented on appeal, therefore, we are bound by the findings of fact of the trial court. Sec. 8.313 of the Texas Uniform Commercial Code, V.T.C.A., reads in part as follows:

“(a) Delivery to a purchaser occurs when (3) his broker sends him confirmation of the purchase and also by book entry or otherwise identifies a specific security in the broker’s possession as belonging to the purchaser; * * ‡ >1

Therefore, appellant having received the confirmation of purchase of the 30 shares of stock, the delivery of the shares by ap-pellee was complete although the physical act of delivering the certificate to appellant could not be performed until a later date due to the procedures involved in transferring the stock. The shares of stock belonged to appellant and could have been sold by him at any time between the date of confirmation of purchase and the date of suspension of trading as ordered by the American Stock Exchange and Securities Exchange Commission. A certificate in the appellant’s name and in his possession would have given appellant no more authority over the control of the shares of stock. The seller was legally bound to deliver the stock as well as the broker-agent of appellant, the appellee herein.

Appellant’s first point of error states that the trial court erred in holding that appellee was not bound unconditionally to deliver the stock in appellant’s name, citing the case Kingsville Cotton Oil Co. v. Dallas Waste Mills, 210 S.W. 832 (Tex.Civ.App.1919, refused) and Levy Plumb *936 ing Co. et al. v. Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Co., 68 S.W.2d 273 (Tex.Civ.App. 1933, refused). These cases are not analogous. Neither case involves a brokerage firm or broker acting as the agent of the other party, both dealing with contracts between parties each acting as principals.

Appellant’s second point of error complains of the trial court’s finding of fact that the transaction was made subject to all the terms of the confirmation statement mailed by appellee to appellant. Sec. 8.319, Texas Uniform Commercial Code reads in part as follows:

“A contract for the sale of securities is not enforceable by way of action or defense unless * * * (3) within a reasonable time a writing in confirmation of the sale or purchase and sufficient against the sender under Subdivision (1) has been received by the party against whom enforcement is sought and he has failed to send written objection to its contents within ten days after its' receipt.” (Emphasis ours)

The confirmation stated in part:

“It is agreed between Dempsey-Tegeler & Co., Inc. and the customer * * * that all transactions are subject to the constitution, rules, regulations, customs, usages, rulings, and interpretations of the stock exchange * *

In view of the finding by the trial court that the appellant was bound by the confirmation, it is presumed that the appellant did not send written objection to the contents within ten days and became bound by the agreement. As we read Sec. 8.319 the defendant-broker would have been entitled to bring an action to recover any monies due; therefore, conversely, we think the plaintiff-principal cannot recover monies paid in accordance with the agreement. The trading in the Westec stock was suspended by action of the American Stock Exchange and Securities Exchange Commission on August 29, 1966. The appellant was bound by the agreement with his agent, therefore, cannot complain of the action over which the agent had no control and had in fact provided for in the agreement.

In 12 C.J.S. Brokers § 11, p. 30 it is stated:

“In the execution of his client’s orders for the purchase or sale of stock a stockbroker is ordinarily the client’s agent, especially where the transaction is to be a cash one; and this relationship is not converted, as a matter of law, into that of seller and purchaser by a formal confirmation of a sale * *

As we view this case the question is whether or not an agent is responsible to his principal for his failure to fully perform the instructions of the principal by delivering a stock certificate in the name of the principal within a reasonable time, as he is required to do, even though he is prevented from so doing by reason of acts or circumstances over which he has no control and through no negligence or malfeasance upon the agent’s part, all as applied to the special relationship of stockbroker-customer and in the light of the provisions of the Texas Uniform Commercial Code. Where, as in this case, the agent has substantially performed his agreement under the instructions of the principal, the agent is not liable for losses of the principal not occasioned by negligence, misrepresentation or fraud of the agent. The agreement had been substantially performed in that the only action left undone by the agent was the ministerial act of transferring the stock on the books of the corporation through its transfer agent and issuance of a certificate in the name of the principal.

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Bluebook (online)
443 S.W.2d 934, 6 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 1091, 1969 Tex. App. LEXIS 2413, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/weiss-v-dempsey-tegeler-co-texapp-1969.