222 Wis. 641 | Wis. | 1936
On the 6th of February, 1933, the First National Bank of Clintonville was a national bank operating in the city of Clintonville. Defendant, John J. Lay, was the owner of eight shares of capital stock of tire par value of $400, and on that date transferred this stock to his son, Carlton E. Lay, in good faith, for valuable consideration, and with no knowledge of any actual or impending insolvency of the bank. On March 6, 1933, the President of the United
“The stockholders of every national banking association shall be held individually responsible for all contracts, debts, and engagements of such association, each to the amount of his stock therein, at the par value thereof in addition to the amount invested in such stock. The stockholders in any national banking association who shall have transferred their shares or registered the transfer thereof within sixty days next before the date of the failure of such association to*643 meet its obligations, or with knowledge of such impending failure, shall be liable to the same extent as if they had made no such transfer, to the extent that the subsequent transferee fails to meet such liability; but this provision shall not be construed to affect in any way any recourse which such shareholders might otherwise have against those in whose names such shares are registered at the time of such failure.”
A conservator was appointed for the Clintonville bank on March 23, 1933, which was less than sixty days after the transfer of the stock by defendant.
The question in this case is whether the appointment of a conservator is the date “of the failure of such association to meet its obligations.” It is contended by defendant that a showing of actual insolvency is required or that the appointment of a receiver must be taken as such date. The trial court was correct in its conclusion. The mere declaration of a bank holiday by the President of the United States in response to a national emergency could not be taken as the date “of the failure of such association to meet its obligations.” This proclamation applied to all banks and prohibited not merely the payment but the presenting of claims, and was open to no inference applicable to a particular bank that that bank was unable to meet its obligations. Solvent or insolvent, it was prohibited from meeting its obligations. As soon as the holiday ended, banks desiring to reopen for the performance of all usual and normal banking functions were required by executive order to obtain a license therefor from the secretary of the treasury. The bank in question never secured such a license and, as heretofore stated, a conservator was appointed for it. It is plain that a conservator was to be appointed only in cases where in the judgment of the comptroller of the treasury the conditions of a particular bank were sufficiently involved so that it could not be permitted to operate on an unrestricted basis. It was either
By the Court. — Judgment affirmed.