OPINION
This is a lawsuit to collect on a promissory note. On or about January 12, 1990, appellee executed a promissory note in the principal sum of $49,315.50 with interest as specified in the note. The payee on the note was First National Bank, located at 508 West 1-30, P.O. Box 479502, Garland, Texas 75047. The note matured according to its terms on February 16, 1991. Although the parties dispute what happened to the note from 1990 to 1994, there is no dispute that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in its corporate capacity transferred the note to Diversified Financial Systems, Inc. (DFS) in 1994. DFS then transferred the note to First Lake Corporation (FLC) who filed suit on the note on February 15, 1996. Subsequent to FLC filing suit, the note was transferred back to DFS who transferred it to appellant. Appellant intervened in this lawsuit on June 20, 1997, when it received the note. Appellee filed a motion for summary judgment asserting that appellant’s lawsuit was barred by the applicable statute of limitations and that appellant was not, as a matter of law, the owner or holder of the note. See TEX.R.CIV.P. 166a(c). In the same motion, appellee argued that he was entitled to a no-evidence summary judgment, as there was no evidence that appellant was the owner or holder of the note. See TEX.R.CIV.P. 166a(i). The trial court denied both of appellee’s traditional summary judgment grounds but granted the no-evidence summary judgment under Rule 166a(i), agreeing that appellant had produced no evidence that it was the owner or holder of the note. 1
*517 On appeal, appellant contends that the trial court committed several errors in granting the no-evidence summary judgment. Appellee asserts in his brief that the summary judgment should be affirmed on the no-evidence grounds and, alternatively, argues in a cross-point that the summary judgment should have been granted by the trial court based on the applicable statute of limitations. We reverse the no-evidence summary judgment granted by the trial court, overrule appel-lee’s cross-point, and remand to the trial court.
No-Evidence Summary Judgment
The trial court granted the no-evidence summary judgment, holding that there was no evidence that appellant was the holder or the owner of the note. The trial court’s conclusion was premised on perceived breaks in the chain of transfer at two levels. “First National Bank of Garland” was declared insolvent by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on March 29, 1990, and the FDIC was appointed receiver. The trial court concluded that appellant presented no evidence showing that the payee on the note, “First National Bank” located in Garland, was the same entity as “First National Bank of Garland.” Appellant received the note through a series of transfers that began with a transfer from the FDIC to DFS. Therefore, the trial court concluded that there was no evidence that appellant was the owner or holder of the note as there was no evidence that First National Bank, the payee on the note, ever properly negotiated the note. The second break occurred when the FDIC in its capacity as a receiver (FDIC-R) failed to endorse the note to the FDIC in its corporate capacity (FDIC-C). The trial court reasoned that appellant had produced no evidence that it was the owner or holder of the note as a necessary endorsement was missing.
A no-evidence summary judgment is essentially a pretrial directed verdict, and we review it under the same legal sufficiency standards applied to traditional directed verdicts.
Grant v. Southwestern Electric Power Company,
Appellant asserts, in his second point, that the trial court erred by striking certain relevant portions of appellant’s summary judgment evidence. Appellant contends that this evidence creates a genuine issue of material fact which precludes the no-evidence summary judgment.
We first consider whether appellant produced more than a mere scintilla of evidence that the “First National Bank of Garland” that was declared insolvent was the same entity as “First National Bank” that was the original payee on the note. Appellant’s response to appellee’s motion for summary judgment included two affidavits. One of those affidavits was exeeut- *518 ed by Richard K. Salmon, who identified himself as an employee of the FDIC in the capacity of program manager. Attached as exhibits to Salmon’s affidavit were the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s Declaration of Insolvency and a document executed in 1996 by Eugene A. Ludwig, Comptroller of the Currency, certifying the validity of the Declaration of Insolvency. Additionally, the promissory note that formed the basis of this litigation was attached as an exhibit to his affidavit. Salmon stated in his affidavit that his duties with the FDIC included serving as “custodian of certain business records kept and maintained by FDIC” and that the two documents attached to his affidavit were “true and correct copies of records kept by the FDIC.” The trial court sustained various objections lodged by appellee against the two exhibits attached to Salmon’s affidavit. The trial court struck the Declaration of Insolvency, finding that it had not been authenticated and constituted inadmissible hearsay.
The Declaration of Insolvency was improperly struck by the trial court. The Declaration of Insolvency was self-authenticating as it is a copy of an official record or report that is certified as correct by a signature under seal attesting to its accuracy. Former TEX.R.CIV.EVID. 902(4). The Declaration of Insolvency was also admissible as a report of a public agency that sets forth both the activities of the agency and “matters observed pursuant to duty imposed by law as to which matters there was a duty to report.” Former TEX.R.CIV.EVID. 803(8). When the requirements of the Rules of Civil Evidence are met, a presumption is created in favor of the admissibility of public records that, in this case, placed the burden on appellee to disprove admissibility by showing that the “sources of information or other circumstances indicate lack of trustworthiness.” Former Rule 803(8); see
Beavers v. Northrop Worldwide Aircraft Services, Inc.,
There is no need for us to determine the admissibility of the promissory note in relation to Salmon’s affidavit as it was before the trial court through other avenues and was considered by the trial court in its decision. Appellee attached a copy of the promissory note to his reply to appellant’s response to appellee’s motion for summary judgment. This was not objected to by appellant and was properly before the trial court. Additionally, both appellant and appellee have consistently asserted and the trial court found that appellee executed a note in 1990 which named First National Bank located in Garland as payee and which is the subject matter of this lawsuit. There has been no dispute as to these facts.
These two documents constitute some evidence that appellee executed a note payable to “First National Bank” located in Garland, Texas. Further, they are some evidence that, sometime after the execution of the note, the OCC declared the “First National Bank of Garland” insolvent and appointed the FDIC as receiver of the Bank. Therefore, if appellant produced more than a mere scintilla of evidence that the two named Banks were actually the same entity, the trial court improperly granted the no-evidence summary judgment on this missing link.
Salmon’s affidavit included the assertion that the “First National Bank of Garland ... referenced in this Declaration of Insolvency, is the same bank as ‘First National Bank’ identified as the original payee of the Promissory Note at issue in this litigation.” The trial court struck this assertion as well as various other portions of Salmon’s affidavit. Appellee’s objections to this statement, which were sustained by the trial court, were (1) that there was no evidence that Salmon had *519 personal knowledge of the statement, (2) that the statement constituted a conclusion, and (3) that there were no facts to support the statement.
TEX.R.CIV.P. 166a(f) provides that affidavits must be based on personal knowledge, must set forth such facts as would be admissible in evidence, and must show that the affiant is competent to testify to the matters set forth. Salmon stated in his affidavit that “[a]ll statements of fact contained in this Affidavit are true and correct based upon my personal knowledge.” Further, Salmon’s employment as a program manager with the FDIC, in connection with his affidavit, furnished a basis for finding that he had personal knowledge of the statement in question. See
Lbpa, Inc. v. Nagel,
Likewise, the trial court erred in sustaining appellee’s second and third objections to Salmon’s statement that “First National Bank” located in Garland and the “First National Bank of Garland” were the same bank. Mere conclusions that are not supported by facts are not competent summary judgment evidence.
Crain v. Davis,
Salmon’s statement, that the original payee bank on the note was the same entity as the bank that was declared insolvent by the OCC, viewed in light of the promissory note and the OCC’s Declaration of Insolvency, is more than a mere scintilla of evidence that the original payee properly negotiated the note. Whether that evidence is conclusive is not an appropriate inquiry in the context of a no-evidence summary judgment. Appellant met its burden of pointing out evidence that raises a fact issue on the challenged element. Rule 166a(i).
The second perceived missing link in appellant’s chain of transfer title upon which the trial court granted appellee’s no-evidence summary judgment was the lack of an endorsement from the FDIC-R to the FDIC-C. In his sixth point, appellant asserts that such an endorsement was not necessary. We agree. In
Federal Deposit Insurance Corpomtion v. Patel,
We reverse the no-evidence summary judgment granted by the trial court based on the two alleged missing links in appellant’s chain of title. 3
Statute of Limitations
In a cross-point, appellee asserts that summary judgment should have also been granted in his favor because appellant’s cause of action is barred by the statute of limitations. This ground was raised by appellee in his motion for summary judgment and was specifically denied by the trial court. We must first consider whether we are authorized to consider this point. The Rules of Appellate Procedure were amended effective September 1, 1997. One of the changes was the addition of TEX.R.APP.P. 25.1(c). Rule 25.1(c) requires that a:
[PJarty who seeks to alter the trial court’s judgment or other appealable order must file a notice of appeal.... The appellate court may not grant a party who does not file a notice of appeal more favorable relief than did the trial court except for just cause.
There have been very few reported decisions dealing with the application of this new rule. The First Court of Appeals has held that:
If an appellee is satisfied with the relief granted by the trial court, but merely wants to present additional, independent grounds for affirming the trial court’s judgment, no notice of appeal is required.
Dean v. Lafayette Place (Section One) Council of Co-Owners, Inc.,
[S]hould consider all summary judgment grounds the trial court rules on and the movant preserves for appellate review that are necessary for final disposition of the appeal [and] may consider other grounds that the movant preserved for review and trial court did not rule on in the interest of judicial economy.
Cincinnati Life Insurance Company v. Cates,
Appellee first argues that appellant is not entitled to rely on the federal six-year statute of limitations 4 and that his *521 claim is barred by the Texas four-year statute of limitations. Appellant does not dispute that its claim is barred if the Texas four-year statute of limitations applies. Therefore, we must decide whether appel-lee has conclusively established that the federal statute of limitations does not apply to appellant’s claim.
Generally, claims brought by the FDIC as well as by its assignees are governed by the federal six-year statute of limitations. See
Jackson v. Thweatt,
Appellee also asserts that, because appellant received the note from DFS and not from the FDIC, appellant’s claim is not governed by the six-year statute of limitations. The Texas Supreme Court in Jackson v. Thweatt held that the federal statute of limitations applied not only to the FDIC but also to a party who purchased the note from the FDIC. Jackson v. Thweatt, supra at 176. Appellee appears to argue that the protection afforded to assignees of the FDIC extends only to the first assignee. 5 Although the party who was suing on the note in Jackson was the first assignee, we do not believe that the rationale is limited to that fact pattern. The court’s decision was premised on two factors. First, the federal policy of insuring a market for the assets of failed depositories militates strongly in favor of extending the federal statute of limitations to all subsequent assignees of the FDIC. In Jackson v. Thweatt, the court stated that the system in which the FDIC operates is intended to “provide funds from public and private sources to deal expeditiously with failed depository institutions.” To not extend the six-year statute of limitations to all subsequent assignees would take from the market the entire group of potential purchasers whose intent would be to sell the note to other parties rather than to collect on the notes themselves. Second, the court based its decision on the principle that “an assignee receives the full rights of the assignor.” Jackson v. Thweatt, supra at 174. This principle indicates that the FDIC transferred all of its rights to DFS, that DFS transferred all of its rights to FLC, that FLC transferred all of its rights back to DFS, and that DFS then transferred all of its rights including the six-year statute of limitations to appellant.
Lastly, appellee argues that appellant is not entitled to the benefit of the six-year statute of limitations because there is no summary judgment evidence that it acquired the protections afforded to assignees of the FDIC. In support of this point, appellee cites
Cadle Company v. Estate of Weaver,
Appellee also argues that, even if appellant is entitled to rely on the six-year limitations period, its claim is barred as appellant did not acquire the note and intervene in the lawsuit until after the expiration of the six-year limitations period. Appellee relies on
Koch Oil Company v. Wilber,
However, in this case, appellant did not assert any new cause of action when it intervened in the lawsuit. Appellant was suing on the same note that was in issue when the original petition was filed. Ap-pellee was defending against the same allegations as when the original petition was filed. It has long been the rule that:
[W]here suit is brought upon a negotiable instrument in the name of the payee or indorsee thereof, the statute is tolled in favor of the true owner although the latter does not intervene or become a party to the record until after the bar would, but for the filing of the suit, have attached. The holding is that the intervention does not constitute a new cause of action.
Russell v. People’s Nat. Bank of Belton,
This Court’s Ruling
The no-evidence summary judgment granted by the trial court is reversed, and the cause is remanded to the trial court.
Notes
. Appellee’s motion for summary judgment also requested that the trial court render judgment in its favor against FLC and DFS. The trial court granted appellee’s motion for summary judgment as to both. FLC and DFS have not perfected appeals to this court; therefore, the summary judgment as to those parties is not before us.
. We do not consider the rest of appellant’s summary judgment evidence that was struck by the trial court as it is not necessary to our disposition of this appeal.
. Because we reverse the summary judgment based on appellant’s second and sixth points, we do not address his first, third, fourth, or fifth points.
. 12 U.S.C.A. § 1821(d)(14) (West 1989 & *521 Pamph. Supp.1999).
. Assignees of the FDIC receive the benefit of two specific protections in addition to the six-year statute of limitations. First, assignees of the FDIC receive the protection of the
D'Oench, Duhme
doctrine which shields assignees from defenses based upon unrecorded agreements.
D’Oench, Duhme & Co. v. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,