190 Wis. 223 | Wis. | 1926
The court has carefully reviewed the voluminous testimony taken in the case and is satisfied that there is no proof which would warrant a jury in finding either the bank or its president liable in this action.
The case falls clearly within the rule of De Swarte v. First Nat. Bank of Wauwatosa, 188 Wis. 455, 206 N. W. 887, 892, 893. In this case, as in the Wauwatosa Case, there is no proof “that the bank or any of its officers had engaged in the business of making representations or giving advice on the value of securities. . . . There was no evidence that any such express or implied authority had been conferred on the cashier.” As was held in the Wau-watosa Case, the fact that proceeds of the sale of this stock were applied upon obligations which the cheese company owed the defendant bank does not render the bank liable for the statements made by its cashier. The statements made by the officers of the bank were in response to inquiries made by prospective customers for the stock. It would be unduly extending the liability of banks to hold them responsible for statements máde in response to inquiries as to investments in which the bank hád no interest either as owner or as selling agent, — no interest other than that of giving gratuitously such information as the bank possessed.
By the Court. — Judgment affirmed.