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Hindes Jacobs Appeals Brief 17 3794 0016
Hindes Jacobs Appeals Brief 17 3794 0016
In The
v.
________________________
BRIEF OF APPELLANTS
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION.......................................................................... 1
ARGUMENT ........................................................................................................... 22
Standard of Review........................................................................................ 22
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CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................ 56
COMBINED CERTIFICATIONS
APPENDIX – Volume I of II
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TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
Pages(s)
Cases
Firestone v. Wiley,
485 F. Supp. 2d 694 (E.D. Va. 2007) ..........................................29, 38, 44, 47
Fleischer v. FDIC,
70 F. Supp. 2d 1238 (D. Kan. 1999) ............................................................. 36
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Gosnell v. FDIC,
Civ. No. 90-1266L, 1991 WL 533637 (W.D.N.Y. Feb. 4, 1991) ................. 50
Sharpe v. FDIC,
126 F.3d 1147 (9th Cir. 1997) ................................................................passim
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Vente v. Gonzales,
415 F.3d 296 (3d Cir. 2005) .......................................................................... 43
Statutes
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12 U.S.C. § 4617(b)(11)(E)(i).................................................................................. 49
12 U.S.C. § 4617(d)(2).......................................................................................44, 45
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Regulations
Other Authorities
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STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION
The district court had jurisdiction under 12 U.S.C. §§ 1452(c) and (f) and
standing because the Net Worth Sweep caused harm and damages to them by
usurping the bundle of rights associated with their securities and eliminating the
value of their stock. The district court entered a final order dismissing all claims in
filed a timely notice of appeal on December 21, 2017. This Court has jurisdiction
4617(f), which only forbids court actions that would “restrain or affect the exercise
claim that the Net Worth Sweep is invalid under 8 Del. C. § 151(c). A4.
4617(f), which only forbids court actions that would “restrain or affect the exercise
claim that the Net Worth Sweep is invalid under Va. Code § 13.1-638. A4.
4617(f), which only forbids court actions that would “restrain or affect the exercise
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claim that Treasury was unjustly enriched by the Net Worth Sweep. A4.
Appellants’ motion for judicial notice of documents or, in the alternative, to strike
dismiss. A4.
This case has not previously been before this Court and there are no previous
or pending appeals before this Court arising out of the same case or proceeding.
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Relevant Facts
This case about Delaware and Virginia corporate law is a class action
“Classes”) of holders of preferred and common stock issued by either the Federal
damages and equitable relief, as well as rescission and restitution, and a derivative
damages and equitable relief, as well as rescission and restitution, in each case in
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connection with the Third Amendments to the Amended and Restated Senior
Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements, dated August 17, 2012, between Defendant-
entire net worth of each Company, minus a small capital reserve, each quarter for
all time, effectively stealing all the Companies’ value previously held by their
private investors.
I. The Companies
Fannie and Freddie operate for profit and their securities are privately owned
and publicly traded. A57-58 at ¶ 31. They are organized and exist under the
Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act and the Federal Home Loan
Fannie in 1938 to provide the mortgage market with supplemental liquidity, and
Id.
1
The district court questioned the adequacy of Plaintiff Hindes as a representative
for the derivative claims. A8 n.1. But the district court ignored that only Plaintiff
Jacobs asserts the derivative claims on behalf of and for the benefit of Fannie and
Freddie. A69 at ¶ 68.
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exclusively with private capital raised through the issuance of common stock and
several series of preferred stock, including the stock that Plaintiffs-Appellants and
securities were considered safe investments, and the Companies regularly declared
and paid dividends on their common and preferred stock. A57 at ¶ 31. Despite the
the jurisdiction in which [its] principal office . . . is located, [or] . . . [the] Delaware
1710.10. Fannie elected the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”) under
Section 1.05 of its bylaws. A241; A58 at ¶ 32. Freddie elected the Virginia Stock
Corporation Act (“VSCA”) under Section 11.3 of its bylaws. A291; A58 at ¶ 32.
the national economy suffered housing market and mortgage crises. A59 at ¶ 33.
Despite this turmoil, the Companies remained “adequately capitalized” and “safe
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33. Fannie’s and Freddie’s assets exceeded their liabilities by $50 billion as of
July 2008. A59 at ¶ 35. When Congress enacted the Housing and Economic
Recovery Act of 2008 (“HERA”) in July 2008, it did so to provide the markets
with added confidence, not because the Companies were insolvent or operating
unsafely. A48 at ¶ 4, A59 at ¶ 34. HERA created FHFA to replace the Office of
HERA left in place the Companies’ charters and their election of Delaware
and Virginia law to govern their internal corporate affairs. A48 at ¶ 4. Congress
did not authorize Treasury to nationalize the Companies; rather, HERA expressly
On September 6, 2008, five weeks after HERA was signed into law, FHFA
A59 at ¶ 35. FHFA stated at the time that the conservatorships would be
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terminated once the Companies were restored to a safe and solvent condition. Id.
sound financial condition and only “act as the conservator to operate [the
Companies] until they are stabilized.” Id.; A300. FHFA explained that “[t]he
Compan[ies’] assets and property and to put the Compan[ies] in a sound and
that their stockholders would retain an economic interest in the Companies. See
A59 at ¶ 35 (“the common and all preferred stocks [of the Companies] will
continue to retain all rights in the stock’s financial worth” during conservatorship).
a safe and solvent condition has been completed successfully, the Director will
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The day after the conservatorships were imposed, FHFA, purporting to act
in its capacity as conservator, and Treasury entered into two virtually identical
senior preferred stock purchase agreements (the “PSPAs”), whereby Fannie and
Freddie each created and issued a new series of preferred stock (“Senior Preferred
Stock”) under their authority to create and issue preferred stock under Delaware
and Virginia law, respectively. A59-60 at ¶ 36. Two virtually identical Senior
“Certificates of Designation”) (A384, A394) set forth the rights, powers and
preferences of the Senior Preferred Stock. Id. Treasury purchased one million
Treasury (this cap was later increased by two subsequent amendments to the
($1,000 per share) plus the sum of all additional amounts drawn by each
Stock ranks senior to all other classes and series of stock, and initially entitled
Absent consent from Treasury and FHFA, the Companies generally cannot
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redeem the Senior Preferred Stock. A59-60 at ¶ 36. Through the PSPAs, each
Company also gave Treasury warrants to purchase 79.9% of its common stock.
Id.
Soon after, FHFA took steps that unnecessarily required the Companies to
FHFA first declared that the Companies purportedly suffered substantial non-cash
accounting losses, including write-downs of the value of tax assets and loss
reserves. Id.; A61 at ¶ 38. Also, inexplicably for Companies purportedly suffering
dividends on the Senior Preferred Stock in cash (rather than in kind), resulting in
the Companies needing additional capital to fund the dividend payments, which
they obtained from Treasury under the funding commitment. A51-52 at ¶ 12. By
2012, it became clear that the losses FHFA declared for the Companies had been
improperly overestimated by more than $100 billion and the associated accounting
In early August 2012, due largely to rising housing prices and reductions in
credit losses, the Companies reported significant income for the second quarter
2012, and neither took a draw from Treasury under the PSPAs. A61 at ¶ 39; see
also A416. In the first two quarters of 2012, the Companies posted profits totaling
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more than $11 billion, more than enough to pay a 10% dividend. A61 at ¶ 39.
soon broke those promises they never intended to keep. A62 at ¶ 42.
existing common equity holders [would] not have access to any positive earnings
the public after briefing had been completed on the motions to dismiss below and
which formed the basis for Plaintiff-Appellants’ Motion for Judicial Notice, by
2011 and perhaps even earlier, FHFA and Treasury secretly intended to prevent
the Companies from returning to profitability and to instead wind them down,
contrary to HERA’s mandate. For example, an internal Treasury email states that
the Net Worth Sweep is part of an “overall set of changes” under which the
[will be] wound down and replaced . . . .” A454. Similarly, a “PSPA Next
Steps” document shows that Defendants-Appellees intended that “[t]he GSEs will
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be wound down faster and will not return to their past state. GSEs will not be
allowed to build capital and exit conservatorship in their prior form.” A519.
FHFA, at the direction of Treasury, executed a plan that would give Treasury
at ¶ 15; see also A62-64 at ¶¶ 42-49. The government called the plan the “Net
The Net Worth Sweep transfers all the net worth of each Company to
Treasury in perpetuity and prevents the public stockholders from ever again
Senior Preferred Stock set forth the new terms of that stock (A384, A394). Gone
is the initial preferred dividend payable at a 10% cash (and 12% in kind) rate.
essentially the entire positive net worth of each Company. A368-69, A377-78,
A386, A396; see also A62-63 at ¶¶ 42-43. The Companies and their public
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value of the private investors’ stock forever. A53 at ¶ 16. Treasury and FHFA
have both acknowledged that, under this unprecedented structure, Treasury will
receive—in perpetuity—any and all profits that Fannie and Freddie earn. Id.
Thus, it will be impossible for either Company to ever have a positive net worth
beyond a small capital reserve buffer, to ever pay a dividend on other classes or
Specifically, the Third Amendment to the PSPAs (A368, A377) and the
provide, in pertinent part, that, as holder of the Senior Preferred Stock, Treasury
2
In connection with implementing the Net Worth Sweep, Treasury suspended the
periodic commitment fee associated with Treasury’s funding commitment. This
suspension, however, only addressed what was already the practice—Treasury had
waived the fee every quarter that it was due. In any event, under the Net Worth
Sweep, Treasury would be receiving the Companies’ entire net worth in perpetuity;
thus, the suspension of the fee was meaningless.
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Id. (emphasis added). Thus, under the Net Worth Sweep, from January 1, 2013
through December 31, 2017, each Company paid to Treasury, in the form of a
purported “dividend,” that Company’s “Net Worth Amount” (i.e., total assets less
total liabilities) less the “Applicable Capital Reserve Amount” (which started at $3
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1, 2018 and continuing in perpetuity, the Net Worth Amount was to be paid out
the Net Worth Sweep “dividends” payable forever to Treasury are cumulative.
A63 at ¶ 45. In other words, if the Net Worth Amount is positive and the board of
no dividends may be paid on any other classes or series of stock unless and until
full cumulative “dividends” (i.e., the full Net Worth Sweep amount) are paid on
the Senior Preferred Stock. A63 at ¶ 45; see also A385-387 and A395-397.
Because the net worth of each Company is payable in perpetuity to the Senior
Preferred Stock, no dividends can ever be paid on other classes or series of stock.
A63 at ¶ 45.
3
In December 2017, an agreement was reached that allows the Companies to
each hold a $3 billion capital reserve. See Letter from Steven T. Mnuchin to
Melvin L. Watt, December 21, 2017, https://www.fhfa.gov/Media/PublicAffairs/
Documents/GSEletteragreementfnm12-21-2017.pdf (last accessed February 26,
2018). But this small buffer does not change the essential facts—that Treasury is
taking essentially all of the Companies’ worth under the Net Worth Sweep.
Moreover, in the fourth quarter of 2017, the Companies announced that they will
be forced to take a draw as a result of a reduction of the corporate tax rate, which
will result in further increasing Treasury’s liquidation preference. This would
never happen if the Companies were properly capitalized and there were no Net
Worth Sweep.
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As explained more fully below, neither Company had power under the
applicable law governing their internal affairs (Delaware and Virginia) to create
and issue preferred stock with a purported “dividend” feature of this nature. Thus,
The Net Worth Sweep has already resulted in historic payments to Treasury
of $166.4 billion and $112.4 billion from Fannie and Freddie, respectively,
including the “dividends” payable on their fourth quarter 2017 earnings distributed
under the Net Worth Sweep.4 Worse, under the PSPAs, those substantial payments
Fannie and $72.3 billion as to Freddie. Id. Considering that Treasury has received
$279 billion under the Net Worth Sweep, Treasury has been more than paid back.
Procedural History
court against FHFA and Treasury. Plaintiffs-Appellants moved for leave to amend
4
These figures have been updated from those alleged in the amended complaint
(see A53-54 at ¶ 17) to reflect additional distributions made to Treasury under the
Net Worth Sweep during the intervening period. Current dividend data is publicly
available, not subject to reasonable dispute, and may be considered by the Court on
this appeal. See Table 2: Dividends on Enterprise Draws from Treasury,
https://www.fhfa.gov/DataTools/Downloads/Documents/Market-Data/Table_2.pdf
(last accessed February 26, 2018).
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the complaint (A29 at D.I. 48) and, following the district court granting Plaintiffs-
Amended Class Action and Derivative Complaint (A30-1 at D.I. 62) (“Amended
Complaint”). On April 17, 2017, FHFA and Treasury moved to dismiss the
(A31 at D.I. 69). After the parties completed briefing on the motions to dismiss,
documents that were publicly released after briefing on the motions to dismiss had
concluded. A32 at D.I. 75. On November 27, 2017, the district court granted
at D.I. 82.
This case concerns unauthorized actions FHFA took that exceeded its
statutory powers and thus were ultra vires and void ab initio. The Net Worth
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quarterly “dividend” equal to the entire positive net worth of Fannie and Freddie,
corporation to pay all profits every quarter, no matter how great, to the holder for
all time to the absolute, permanent exclusion of dividends to all other stockholders.
govern their internal affairs as required by federal regulation, those state laws
apply to the Companies and define and delimit the extent of their corporate
capital stock the Companies may issue. So fundamental did the Companies
consider their respective elections of Delaware and Virginia corporate law that
each designated that its bylaw provisions should be included in the Companies’
respective certificates of incorporation for “all purposes” of the DGCL and VSCA.
See A241 § 1.05; A291 § 11.3(b). Congress, in turn, bound FHFA as conservator
to abide by those same state laws through HERA’s succession clause, which states
that, when FHFA steps into the shoes of the Companies as conservator, it succeeds
to “all rights, titles, powers, and privileges of the regulated entity, and of any
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follows that FHFA may not cause the companies to do what the Companies and
no matter how flagrantly it flouts HERA and the state corporate laws applicable
to the Companies.
First, the district court erred as a matter of law by holding that Plaintiffs-
clause” of HERA. A8-9, 13, 17-19. The district court’s decision contradicts
cases throughout the federal circuits holding that FHFA may be enjoined when
acting beyond the scope of its statutory powers as conservator, because the anti-
injunction clause applies only to actions that would “restrain or affect the
D.C. Circuit case on which the district court otherwise relied—recognizes that
Section 4617(f) bars equitable relief only where such relief would interfere with
606 (D.C. Cir. 2017). The district court’s error stems from its failure to
may not be enjoined under Section 4617(f), and unauthorized actions that exceed
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FHFA’s power under HERA. Here, because FHFA does not have any power or
authority to create or issue preferred stock that Fannie and Freddie themselves
could not create or issue, FHFA did not have the power or authority to implement
the Net Worth Sweep. Therefore, its actions fall outside the scope of HERA’s
anti-injunction clause.
the holding in Perry Capital that the Net Worth Sweep “falls squarely within the
powers granted to the Agency under HERA” (A11-12), yet failed to recognize
that neither Perry Capital nor the other cases relating to the Net Worth Sweep
addressed the unique corporate law claim here—i.e., FHFA did not have the
statutory power under HERA to implement the Net Worth Sweep because FHFA
cannot exercise powers that the Companies themselves do not have, particularly
the non-existent power under state corporation law to confer a supposed right to a
Fannie and Freddie long ago bound themselves to the laws of Delaware and
Virginia, respectively, to govern their internal affairs and delimit their corporate
powers. Congress, in turn, bound FHFA as conservator to abide by the same state
laws through HERA’s succession clause. FHFA cannot simply ignore state law
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corporate powers held by Fannie and Freddie themselves. Thus, Section 4617(f)
does not bar Plaintiffs-Appellants’ request for equitable relief because FHFA
clause upon which the district court relied as the sole basis for dismissing the
Amended Complaint does not apply to claims for damages, as Perry Capital
made clear. 864 F.3d at 613-14. For that reason alone, the district court’s
decision should be reversed and the case remanded. But FHFA’s implementation
contracts with the Companies within the statutorily required 18-month time
period and therefore exceeded its statutory power. Even if FHFA had properly
4617(d)(3)(A)(i).
The district court also erred by rejecting additional bases for jurisdiction.
Among other things, the district court erred by discounting the argument that the
Net Worth Sweep violated HERA’s provisions governing the order of distribution
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if the Companies were liquidated. In addition, the district court erred by not
recognizing the obvious limitation under HERA’s succession clause that FHFA
cannot cause the Companies to effect transfers or sales of assets that the
waste corporate assets. Further, the district court incorrectly concluded that
FHFA was not obligated to put the Companies in a “sound and solvent condition”
and to “preserve and conserve their assets and property.” The overall context of
HERA as well as the specific powers granted by HERA show that these were
Finally, in addition to the legal errors explained above, the district court
Appellants’ motion for judicial notice of publicly available facts and documents
district court accepted. As a result, the district court failed to view the Amended
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context of the facts upon which the district court relied, is reversible error.
ARGUMENT
Standard of Review
and its decision to grant a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Marathon
Petroleum Corp. v. Sec’y of Fin. for Delaware, 876 F.3d 481, 488 (3d Cir. 2017).
The district court improperly granted the motions to dismiss solely on the
ground that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction under 12 U.S.C. § 4617(f), the so-
called “anti-injunction clause” of HERA. A5-6 (“[T]he court finds that the anti-
12 U.S.C. § 4617(f).
motions to dismiss, the district court effectively held that FHFA has near limitless
power to “conduct all business of the companies” and “transfer or sell any asset of
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marks omitted). Although the district court cited cases where other courts found
that the Net Worth Sweep “falls squarely within the powers granted to the Agency
under HERA,” (A11-12), none of those other courts addressed the fundamental
corporate power issues under Delaware and Virginia law raised by Plaintiffs-
the Companies themselves never had in the first place—to implement a perpetual
net worth “dividend”—Section 4617(f) cannot remove the power of the courts to
A. Section 4617(f) Does Not Bar Claims For Equitable Relief Where
FHFA Exceeds Its Statutory Authority As Conservator
The district court’s decision contradicts cases in several federal circuits
holding that FHFA may be enjoined when it acts beyond the scope of its statutory
applies only to actions that would “restrain or affect the exercise of powers or
added). It follows that Section 4617(f) “is inapplicable when FHFA acts beyond
the scope of its conservator power.” Cnty. of Sonoma v. FHFA, 710 F.3d 987, 992
(9th Cir. 2013); see also Leon Cnty. v. FHFA, 700 F.3d 1273, 1278 (11th Cir.
2012); Town of Babylon v. FHFA, 699 F.3d 221, 228 (2d Cir. 2012). Even Perry
Capital recognized that Section 4617(f) bars equitable relief only where such relief
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In its reliance on Perry Capital and the cases that came after it, the district
court failed to acknowledge that none of those decisions addressed the Delaware
particular, Perry Capital did not address whether Section 4617(f) bars equitable
relief where Plaintiffs-Appellants claim that FHFA did not have the statutory
power to implement the Net Worth Sweep because it cannot exercise corporate
powers that the Companies themselves do not possess, including the non-existent
each Company.
Enforcement Act (“FIRREA”) on which Section 4617(f) was modeled, and federal
courts have granted equitable relief in that context. A14. Sharpe v. FDIC, 126
F.3d 1147 (9th Cir. 1997), a case concerning that section of FIRREA, is
illustrative. In Sharpe, the Ninth Circuit allowed claims for equitable relief against
a receiver and held Section 1821(j) inapplicable where “the FDIC as receiver” had
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contract without statutory authorization. Id. at 1155; see also Bank of Manhattan,
NA v. FDIC, 778 F.3d 1133, 1136–37 (9th Cir. 2015) (same); Dittmer Props., LP
v. FDIC, 708 F.3d 1011, 1017 (8th Cir. 2013) (Section 1821(j) applies only when
a conservator may be enjoined for acting beyond the scope of its statutory powers.
The Third Circuit cases the district court erroneously characterized as fatal to
provision, but merely improper or even illegal actions may not. Gross v. Bell Sav.
Bank PaSA, 974 F.2d 403, 407 (3d Cir. 1992); see also Rosa v. Resolution Trust
Corp., 938 F.2d 383, 397 (3d Cir. 1991) (dismissing plaintiffs’ claim that
in Gross, “the availability of injunctive relief does not hinge on [the Court’s] view
Appellants contend that FHFA did not have the legitimate power to implement the
Net Worth Sweep in the first place. 974 F.2d at 408. “Of course, the
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emphasizing that “federal courts have the ability to restrain the [conservator] where
[it] is acting clearly outside its statutory powers.” Id. (citing Coit Independence
Joint Venture v. Federal Savings & Loan Insurance Corp, 489 U.S. 561, 572-73
(1989)). Any suggestion that a federal court may not enjoin FHFA from violating
the very statute from which it derives its authority also conflicts with a more recent
Supreme Court decision, City of Arlington v. FCC, 133 S. Ct. 1863 (2013). There,
interpretation of its own “ultra vires” actions that “go[] beyond what Congress has
permitted it to do,” because the dispositive question for a reviewing court “is
always, simply, whether the agency has stayed within the bounds of its statutory
The district court, by ignoring Supreme Court and Third Circuit cases that
establish judicially enforceable limits on an agency’s ultra vires actions, held that
Gross and Rosa deny equitable relief “even where the [conservator] acts in
violation of other statutory schemes.” A13. That holding is irrelevant because the
conservator violated HERA itself, not some ancillary statutory scheme like ERISA
that lies outside HERA’s purview. Nor can the state law provisions here be
which subjects FHFA to the same state corporate laws that govern the internal
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affairs of the Companies themselves and which necessarily delineate the scope of
corporation’s powers no longer apply because the corporation was placed into
scheme.
DGCL and VSCA, as the law to govern their internal affairs, as required by federal
corporate powers as they relate to authority to fix the rights and preferences of
bound FHFA to comply with the Companies’ pre-existing obligations and powers.
By succeeding to “all rights, titles, powers, and privileges” previously held by the
Companies and obtained only those rights and powers that existed before
conservatorship. O’Melveny & Myers v. FDIC, 512 U.S. 79, 86 (1994). But FHFA
exceeded its statutory power under HERA when it did what the Companies
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impermissible “dividend” right that expropriates all of the economic value held by
underlying basis for the powers enjoyed by corporate entities by likening the
Delaware and Virginia state corporation laws that govern the Companies’ internal
to “other statutory schemes” like ERISA. A13. Yet requiring FHFA to comply
with the state corporate laws that the Companies adopted to govern their internal
corporate affairs is not the same as requiring FHFA to comply with a generalized
statutory scheme like ERISA that does not regulate the internal governance of
corporate entities, the scope of those entities’ powers, and the fiduciary
Because there is no federal corporation law that provides rules for the internal
powers with respect to the creation and issuance of capital stock, it was necessary
for Fannie and Freddie to have some corporate governance framework under which
to conduct their internal affairs. Thus, the Companies’ federal charter acts
authorized, and federal regulations required, that the Companies select a state law
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to govern their internal affairs. 12 C.F.R. § 1710.10. They chose the laws of
corporation and its directors, officers, and stockholders. See, e.g., Allen v. El Paso
Pipeline GP Co., LLC, 90 A.3d 1097, 1107 (Del. Ch. 2014); Boilermakers Local
154 Ret. Fund v. Chevron Corp., 73 A.3d 934, 940 (Del. Ch. 2013); Firestone v.
Wiley, 485 F. Supp. 2d 694, 705 (E.D. Va. 2007); Lee v. Va. Educ. Ass’n, Inc., 2
Va. Cir. 319, 1969 WL 101681 (Va. Cir. Mar. 19, 1969). The district court’s error
govern their internal affairs, and by subsequently using those laws to create
preferred stock and fix the rights, powers, and preferences of that stock by way of
on their power with respect to the rights, powers, and preferences of capital stock
that permissively may be fixed under state law. The Companies had (and have) no
power or authority to undertake ultra vires acts, including imbuing preferred stock
with features that are not permitted under applicable state laws.
Indeed, the federal acts that govern the Companies preclude the Companies’
directors from taking actions contrary to the law, including the state laws adopted
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by the Companies. See 12 U.S.C. § 1452 (with respect to Freddie: “Within the
limitations of law and regulation, the Board of Directors shall determine the
general policies that govern the operations of the Corporation.”); 12 U.S.C. § 1723
(with respect to Fannie: “Within the limitations of law and regulation, the board
shall determine the general policies which shall govern the operations of the
corporation…”).
The Net Worth Sweep is an absurdity under state corporation law. Under
the relevant provisions of the DGCL and VSCA, preferred stock cannot be given a
102(a)(4), 151(c); Va. Code § 13.1-638. First, under Delaware law, Section 151 of
the DGCL allows preferred stockholders to receive dividends only “at such rates,
added). Such dividends must be “payable in preference to, or in . . . relation to, the
dividends payable on” other classes or series of stock. Id. (emphasis added). The
the Net Worth Sweep is not payable “in preference to” or “in relation to” the
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effectively eliminates the economic stake of all stockholders other than Treasury,
series of stock.6 A dividend preference may not preclude all other stockholders in
perpetuity from receiving dividends; that would not be a preference at all, but
5
In a white paper published by FHFA Office of Inspector General in March of
2013, the government admits “[t]he 2012 Amendments significantly altered the
structure of the dividend payment[.] . . . As of January 1, 2013, the dividend
payment is no longer based on a fixed percentage of the liquidation preference.
Instead, the dividend is based on the amount of positive net worth reported by
each Enterprise. . . . In its press release announcing the 2012 Amendments,
Treasury called this a full income sweep of ‘every dollar of profit that each firm
earns going forward.’” A416-17 (emphases added). Similarly, an internal
Treasury email discussing a draft of a press release to be issued in connection with
the Net Worth Sweep states: “We are making sure that each of these entities pays
the taxpayer every dollar of profit they make, not just a 10% dividend.” A454
(emphasis in original). The district court refused to consider these documents and
instead accepted Defendants-Appellees’ facts as true as explained in Section V,
infra.
6
Once the Net Worth Sweep is paid each quarter, there necessarily will be no assets
remaining that would ever be available for the payment of dividends on any other
classes or series of stock regardless of how valuable the Company may become in
the future. Section 151(c), however, expressly contemplates that, after payment of
preferential dividends on senior preferred stock, “a dividend on the remaining class
or classes or series of stock may then be paid out of the remaining assets of the
corporation available for dividends . . . .” 8 Del. C. § 151(c).
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instead a complete elimination of the economic value of all other classes and
series. Accordingly, the Net Worth Sweep is void ab initio and unenforceable
under Section 151(c) of the DGCL that Fannie incorporated into its bylaws.
For the same reasons, the Net Worth Sweep violates Virginia corporation
law that Freddie incorporated into its bylaws. The VSCA provides that a
corporation may authorize “one or more classes or series of shares that . . . have
preference over any other class or series of shares with respect to distributions
[such as dividends].” Va. Code § 13.1-638 (emphasis added). Virginia law does
Cyclopedia of the Law of Corporations § 5332 (perm. ed.) (citing Drewry, Hughes
Co. v. Throckmorton, 92 S.E. 818 (Va. 1917)). Nor does it permit corporations to
Supreme Court has long recognized that the “common understanding” of preferred
stock is that the holders thereof are entitled to “limited dividends” without the
Johnson v. Johnson & Briggs, Inc., 122 S.E. 100, 103 (Va. 1924). The Net Worth
Sweep was an unauthorized and thus unenforceable corporate act under Virginia
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law because, as in Delaware, a dividend preference may not forever preclude all
As the next section explains, FHFA became bound by the same laws when
the Companies had no power to implement the Net Worth Sweep under state law
and their respective corporate bylaws, FHFA also lacks the power to do so as
conservator and nothing in HERA grants this power where state law does not.
conservator or receiver, HERA provides that when FHFA assumes control of the
powers, and privileges of the regulated entity, and of any stockholder, officer, or
over the assets of and operate[s] the regulated entity with all the powers of the
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shareholders, the directors, and the officers of the regulated entity and conduct[s]
all business of the regulated entity,” and “perform[s] all functions of the regulated
entity in the name of the regulated entity which are consistent with the appointment
conservator, FHFA “steps into the shoes” of Fannie and Freddie, “obtaining the
rights [of those entities] that existed prior to [conservatorship].” O’Melveny &
While FHFA has discretion to act on behalf of the Companies within the
scope of its authority under HERA, it cannot simply breach or otherwise ignore the
Companies to take actions outside of the power given under applicable state law
clause does not permit an agency “to increase the value of the [contract] in its
obligations.” 864 F.3d at 630. Likewise, when interpreting the nearly identical
succession clause in FIRREA, the Ninth Circuit has acknowledged that while “[i]t
is true that some provision in the extensive framework of FIRREA might, in theory,
afford the FDIC as receiver greater powers than those possessed by a failed
financial institution,” to “permit the FDIC to succeed to powers greater than those
held by the insolvent bank” in the absence of such a provision would be “an
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implausible result when FIRREA provides that the FDIC, as receiver, ‘shall . . .
succeed to . . . all rights, titles, powers, and privileges of the insured depository
1821(d)(2)(A)) (quotation marks omitted); Sharpe, 126 F.3d at 1156 (“…to allow
contract law”).
treatment in authoritative cases that the district court strained to distinguish. The
Supreme Court in O’Melveny & Myers interpreted the nearly identical provision in
FIRREA (upon which HERA’s succession clause was modeled) to mean that when
the FDIC “steps into the shoes” of the entity in receivership, it must “work out its
claims under state law, except where some provision in the extensive framework of
O’Melveny & Myers, “work[ing] out” claims under state law here means that
The Ninth Circuit has applied O’Melveny & Myers to grant “equitable relief
under FIRREA’s succession clause. Bank of Manhattan, 778 F.3d at 1135. Bank
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of Manhattan held that the succession clause prohibited the FDIC, as receiver,
from exercising “powers greater than those held by” an insolvent bank in its
charge. Id. at 1136 (citing 12 U.S.C. § 1821(d)(2)(A)); see also O’Melveny &
Myers, 512 U.S. at 86-87 (“It is hard to avoid the conclusion that §
1821(d)(2)(A)(i) places the FDIC in the shoes of the insolvent S&L”). Likewise in
Sharpe, the Ninth Circuit concluded that “the FDIC did not act within its
analogue to the anti-injunction clause here did not bar equitable relief relating to
the breach. 126 F.3d at 1155. Further, also in the context of FIRREA, the Third
Circuit has held that the FDIC as receiver must comply with corporate bylaws,
Ridder v. City Fed Fin. Corp., 47 F.3d 85, 86–87 (3d Cir. 1995); Fleischer v.
The cases interpreting FIRREA’s nearly identical succession clause teach two
applicable lessons: first, the succession clause means that state laws governing the
power of the entity under conservatorship may not be violated except when the
federal statute explicitly provides otherwise (O’Melveny & Myers); second, the
obligations of the entity under its charge (Bank of Manhattan, Sharpe, Ridder,
Fleischer). Both elements apply here because this case involves violations of
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preferred stock dividend rights and the unauthorized payment of preferred dividends.
Moreover, the relevant state laws became binding contractual obligations on the
federal regulation. FHFA cannot walk away from the Companies’ obligations under
cover of its role as conservator because the succession clause permits it to exercise
only those powers held by Fannie and Freddie under state law.
The district court’s attempt to distinguish these cases fails because it ignores
the analysis of the succession clause in favor of factual distinctions that do not
matter here. The district court claimed that the Supreme Court in O’Melveny &
Myers “did not address, in any manner whatsoever, whether the FDIC’s statutory
powers were curtailed by state law when it stepped in the shoes of a failed bank.”
A14. Yet the Supreme Court held that the succession clause in FIRREA “places the
FDIC in the shoes of the [entity in receivership], to work out its claims under state
law….” 512 U.S. 79, 86-87; see also Perry Capital, 864 F.3d at 622 (citing same).
Thus, the question whether the FDIC’s powers were subject to state law under
FIRREA’s succession clause was very much at issue in O’Melveny & Myers.
Similarly, FHFA was subject to state corporation law under HERA’s nearly identical
succession clause when it stepped into the shoes of the Companies’ directors.
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case. The district court erroneous believed that those cases do not apply here
because they dealt with contract breaches where “the FDIC was bound by the
bank before the receivership.” A14. Those facts, however, make those two cases
similar to the instant case, not distinguishable. The corporate bylaws at issue here,
and the state-law statutory schemes they invoked, were also private contracts
See, e.g., El Paso Pipeline, 90 A.3d at 1107 (emphasizing “the Delaware Supreme
and the bylaws together constitute a multi-party contract among the directors,
(“the VSCA is deemed a part of the contract between a corporation and its
shareholders”). Because FHFA stepped into the shoes of the Companies, all of
under the state incorporation laws of Delaware and Virginia made applicable by
Therefore FHFA breached its contractual obligations because it did what the
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that FHFA acted within its statutory powers under HERA. A11-12. Both the court
explicit limitations HERA places on actions like the Net Worth Sweep that fall
outside the scope of FHFA’s powers as conservator. For example, the district
court indicated that FHFA may “take over,” “operate” and “conduct all business of
the [Companies],” as it sees fit under 12 U.S.C. § 4617(b)(2)(B)(i). A11. Yet the
district court failed to quote the complete text of the provision, which states that
FHFA may only “take over the assets of and operate the regulated entity with all
the powers of the shareholders, the directors, and the officers of the regulated
entity.” 12 U.S.C. § 4617(b)(2)(B) (emphasis added). The key phrase the district
court omitted limits FHFA to take only those actions that fall within the
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important qualifier that the district court chose not to discuss: FHFA may only take
actions that are “appropriate to carry on the business of the regulated entity and
preserve and conserve the assets and property of the regulated entity.” Id.
actions are considered appropriate. Section 4617(b)(2)(B)(i) states that FHFA may
“conduct all business” of the Companies only by exercising those “powers” that
interpretation and common sense. The Net Worth Sweep cannot be salvaged as an
Finally, the limits HERA places on FHFA to act within the “powers” of the
which states that FHFA may “transfer or sell any asset” of Fannie or Freddie
would render Section 4617(b)(2)(B)(i) a nullity. Taken together, the two provisions
in Sections 4617(b)(2)(B)(i) and 4617(b)(2)(G) mean that FHFA may transfer or sell
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assets without “approval, assignment, or consent” only when doing so lies within its
fundamental powers under the succession clause. FHFA never had the authority to
implement the Net Worth Sweep in the first place because the Companies
themselves had no power to implement it. The Net Worth Sweep was ultra vires.
could disregard when supposedly acting to preserve and conserve the assets of the
Companies, as the district court appears to hold. Instead, the succession clause
only those actions that the Companies themselves would have been authorized to
take under Delaware and Virginia law. Because neither a Delaware nor a Virginia
corporation has statutory authority to implement the Net Worth Sweep, under
Section 4617(f) to Defendants-Appellees’ ultra vires acts, the district court ignored
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seeks damages and monetary restitution. The anti-injunction clause does not apply
to claims for damages and Defendants-Appellees never argued that it did. For this
reason alone, the district court committed reversible error and the case should be
remanded.
Perry Capital holds that damages claims are not subject to the anti-
injunction clause:
Despite the district court’s reliance on Perry Capital, it ignored this key
holding, in part, because it failed to consider the Amended Complaint’s claims for
damages (as well as its claims for monetary relief based on principles of
sought “equitable and injunctive relief” (A9), citing paragraphs 84, 92, 99, 106 and
the Prayer for Relief of the Amended Complaint. But, the neighboring paragraphs
See A72 at ¶ 85 (“Fannie Mae and its stockholders, including Plaintiffs and the
Fannie Classes, have suffered damages”); A74 at ¶ 93 (“Freddie Mac and its
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damages…”).
Appellants’ claims for damages (other than as mentioned in the next section
neglects to consider a stated ground for relief, the case must be remanded so the
court can consider the neglected claim. See, e.g., On Davis v. The Gap, Inc., 246
F.3d 152, 159 (2d Cir. 2001); Vente v. Gonzales, 415 F.3d 296, 302-03 (3d Cir.
2005). Further, the district court cited no authority for the proposition that an order
Here, the district court’s only purported basis for granting the motions to dismiss
was the inapplicable anti-injunction clause. For this reason alone, this case should
be remanded so that the district court can consider its jurisdiction over Plaintiffs-
HERA for another reason: HERA’s repudiation of contracts clause makes clear
that FHFA remains liable for “actual direct compensatory damages.” 12 U.S.C. §
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steps “in the shoes” of the Companies, and HERA “does not permit [FHFA] to
increase the value of the [contract] in its hands by simply ‘preempting’ out of
(citing O’Melveny & Myers, 512 U.S. at 86-87). While FHFA may, under HERA,
12 U.S.C. § 4617(d)(3)(A)(i).
Appellants’ repudiation argument was that “[p]laintiffs ask the court to equate a
violation of a state statute with the act of repudiating a contract, but cite no
authority to support that assertion.” A15. First, Plaintiffs-Appellants did not ask
Appellants argued that the state corporate laws governing the Companies’ internal
affairs are an integral part of the multi-party contract between the corporation, its
directors, and its stockholders, made applicable to the Companies through the
election of state law in their bylaws. See, e.g., Firestone, 485 F. Supp. 2d at 705
(“the VSCA is deemed a part of the contract between a corporation and its
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chapter and all amendments thereof shall be a part of the charter or certificate of
incorporation of every corporation except so far as the same are inapplicable and
through the purported exercise of powers the Companies did not possess and so
contractual rights under those laws and the Companies’ charters and bylaws,
public stockholders.
contracts with the Companies by implementing the Net Worth Sweep, they did so
long after the 18-month period for repudiation under HERA had passed.
the Ninth Circuit explained in the analogous context of FIRREA, “the FDIC can
Section 1821(e) allows the FDIC to disaffirm or repudiate any contract it deems
burdensome and pay only compensatory damages. FIRREA does not permit the
FDIC to breach contracts at will.” Sharpe, 126 F.3d at 1155; see also Bank of
Manhattan, 778 F.3d at 1135. FHFA did not comply with the requirements of
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stockholders to comply with their bylaws and with governing principles of state
contractual obligations, FHFA thus “did not act within its statutorily granted
under HERA. Sharpe, 126 F.3d at 1155. Accordingly, Section 4617(f) does not
remains that Defendants-Appellees repudiated, and whether that was within the
reasonable period established by HERA or not, damages are still owed under the
nature of bylaws (A15 at n.6), well-settled Delaware and Virginia law holds that
bylaws create binding contractual obligations. The very case cited by the district
longstanding recognition that the DGCL, the certificate of incorporation, and the
bylaws together constitute a multi-party contract among the directors, officers, and
stockholders of the corporation.” 90 A.3d at 1107. The district court also ignored
Boilermakers, which held “our Supreme Court has long noted that bylaws, together
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with the certificate of incorporation and the broader DGCL, form part of a flexible
Supreme Court has held the same. See, e.g., Airgas, Inc. v. Air Prods. & Chems.,
Inc., 8 A.3d 1182, 1188 (Del. 2010) (“Corporate charters and bylaws are contracts
A.2d 1130, 1136 (Del. 1991) (“[A] corporate charter is both a contract between the
State and the corporation, and the corporation and its shareholders.”).
Virginia authorities are no less clear that state laws form part of an
law “the VSCA is deemed a part of the contract between a corporation and its
when not in contravention of any statute have all of the force of contracts as
between the corporation and its members and as between the members
themselves.” Lee, 1969 WL 101681 at *1. The district court plucked the phrase
“have all the force of contracts” from Lee but missed the rest of the sentence,
which shows that “force” refers to binding obligations between contractual parties,
not simply principles of contract interpretation. A11 at n.6. The district court’s
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“hodgepodge.” A16. In doing so, it repeated a series of errors that plagued the rest
of the opinion.
First, the district court once again selectively ignored parts of Perry Capital
HERA’s provisions governing the order of priorities for distribution of assets upon
liquidation, § 4617(b)(3)–(9), (c). The district court incorrectly concluded that the
the Net Worth Sweep.” A16. Perry Capital rejected a similar argument, holding
that the district court erred by requiring that the Companies actually be “in
liquidation” to find that the Net Worth Sweep breached the stockholders’
contractual rights to receive assets upon liquidation. 864 F.3d at 632-33. Under
the doctrine of anticipatory breach, the D.C. Circuit upheld the claim that the Net
have to wait for liquidation to assert their right to a proper distribution of assets
because the Net Worth Sweep impermissibly “ensured there would be no assets to
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Second, the district court once again failed to recognize the distinction
between FHFA acting outside its statutory powers and simply exercising an
the Net Worth Sweep exceeded the Agency’s conservator powers by failing to
the district court stated that Plaintiffs-Appellants’ claims fail because “the Agency,
A17 (emphasis added). But that misses the point of this lawsuit. Plaintiffs-
Appellants never claimed that FHFA improperly exercised the powers granted to it
under HERA. Instead, Plaintiffs-Appellants challenge the Net Worth Sweep on the
grounds that FHFA was not acting within its powers as a conservator in the first
place because it acted outside of the powers it inherited through HERA’s succession
clause. The district court missed this distinction because, among other reasons, it
impermissibly assumed that FHFA was acting within its powers in contradiction to
was acting in Treasury’s interest, and not the Companies’ interest, and acting in a
manner the Companies’ themselves had no power to act, when implementing the
Net Worth Sweep, which was a waste of the Companies’ assets. Obviously, waste
¶¶ 42-49. Only by ignoring the factual allegations could the district court
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authority” to show that FHFA was not acting in its role as conservator when it
about exceeding statutory power when it stated that “Plaintiffs suggest that the powers
granted to the Agency under Section 4617 are limited to ‘routine transfers of discrete
assets’” and that “reading such a limitation into Section 4617 would be contrary to the
very purpose for which HERA was enacted.” A18. The district court’s analysis is
upside down here: Plaintiffs-Appellants never adopted the position that Section 4617
contend that the routine transfer cases have no application here and that, in any event,
even routine transfers would not necessarily escape judicial review because receivers
are not “wholly above the law,” and “truly ultra vires or arbitrary and capricious acts
on its part may be enjoined.” See D.I. 69 at 44 (citing Gosnell v. FDIC, Civ. No. 90-
and arguments that address the public statements made by FHFA directors, which
a “sound and solvent condition” and “preserve and conserve their assets.” A17.
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Outside the context of this litigation, FHFA repeatedly stated that the disputed
statutory provisions are mandatory, not merely permissive. Yet nowhere did the
district court address the indisputable fact that FHFA’s own directors, even after
the first issuance of the Perry Capital decision, no less, contradicted the Agency’s
position taken in this litigation and in Perry Capital that FHFA does not have a
mandatory obligation to keep the Companies “sound and solvent” and to “preserve
the Enterprises while they are in conservatorship.”7 While this May 2017
statement was of course not available when the D.C. Circuit issued its first opinion
in Perry Capital on February 21, 2017, it was very much available to the district
Yet the district court blindly relied upon the majority opinion in Perry Capital
instead. A17.
The district court should have looked afresh at the dissent in Perry Capital,
7
Statement of Melvin L. Watt, Director, FHFA, Before the U.S. Senate Committee
on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs at 1 (May 11, 2017),
https://www.fhfa.gov/Media/PublicAffairs/Pages/Statement-of-Melvin-L-Watt-
Director-FHFA-Before-the-US-Senate-Committee-on-Banking-Housing-and-
Urban-Affairs-05112017.aspx (emphasis added).
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provisions create mandatory obligations for FHFA. 864 F.3d at 636-43 (Brown, J.,
dissenting). The dissent first stressed HERA’s statutory scheme as a whole, which
distinguishes the roles FHFA may play as either “conservator or receiver,” but not
both at once. Id. at 638-639 (citing 12 U.S.C. § 4617(b)(2)(G)). Yet FHFA failed
to act like a conservator, despite its role, by effectively wasting the assets of the
and preserve the institution in its charge—by acting for its own benefit and for that
of Treasury. Id. at 641. FHFA continues to strip the Companies’ assets and
transfer them to Treasury, ensuring that the Companies will never have enough
capital to return to private control. Not only do these actions violate all established
to recognize that, by implementing the Net Worth Sweep, FHFA acted contrary to
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condition” and “to preserve and conserve [their] assets and property” on the path to
“rehabilitation.” See § 4617(b)(2)(D); 76 Fed. Reg. 35,724, 35,730 (June 20, 2011).
Treasury or anyone but the conservator. The district court erred by stating that
Section 4617(f) nonetheless bars judicial relief against Treasury because the
requested relief would “affect” FHFA’s power to enter into the Net Worth Sweep.
does not “affect” FHFA’s exercise of statutorily permissible powers because the
Net Worth Sweep did not involve the exercise of a statutorily permissible power
In addition to the legal errors explained above, the district court erred by
they find no support in the Amended Complaint. That error was compounded by
the district court’s denial of Plaintiffs-Appellants’ motion for judicial notice. A19.
As a result, the district court failed to view the Amended Complaint in the light
8
Plaintiffs-Appellants reserve the right to argue on remand that Treasury did not
have the authority to purchase new securities or implement the Net Worth Sweep.
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most favorable to Plaintiffs-Appellants and that alone, in the context of the facts
The district court does not have the discretion to ignore well-pleaded facts in
the Amended Complaint. Fowler v. UPMC Shadyside, 578 F.3d 203, 213 (3d Cir.
2009); Melo-Sonics Corp. v. Cropp, 342 F.2d 856, 858 (3d Cir. 1965).
Treasury and FHFA amended the PSPAs to “capitalize on the Companies’ strong
recovery (and ensure that their stockholders could not capitalize on it).” A62 at ¶
nowhere in the Complaint) by stating that “[t]he Stock Purchase Agreement and
the Companies remained in a sound and solvent condition.” A11. Although the
district court cited a recital in the Amended and Restated Stock Purchase
Agreement for this proposition, by doing so the district court accepted FHFA’s and
supposed fact is far from immaterial to its decision and to the proper resolution of
the motions to dismiss. Rather, whether FHFA and Treasury were acting to
conserve and preserve or whether they were acting to unlawfully extract the value
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of the Companies is at the very heart of this dispute. FHFA cannot claim that it
had the power as conservator to transfer all of the value of the Companies to
actions that enacted the Net Worth Sweep were to conserve and preserve, the
district court reached the conclusion that FHFA was within its powers without ever
questioning whether FHFA’s actions were actions the Companies themselves could
have taken. The district court’s order on the motions to dismiss should be vacated
Complaint.
Appellants’ motion for judicial notice. A19. The district court recognized that
Agency entered into the Third Amendment in order to preserve and conserve the
assets of the companies.” Id. The district court goes on to say that it “did not rely
on these assertions or any facts related to these assertions” when deciding the
motion to dismiss. Id. The district court’s representation about what it relied on
cannot be reconciled with its clear adoption of the position that the Third
Amendment was “intended to ensure that the Companies remained in a sound and
judicial notice because they (rightly) were concerned that the district court would
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given that documents that had recently become publicly available showed the
allegations of the Amended Complaint to be true and belied the contrary arguments
of Defendants-Appellees. The denial of the motion for judicial notice as moot thus
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, this Court should vacate the district court’s
Respectfully Submitted,
Michael A. Pittenger
Christopher N. Kelly
Alan R. Silverstein
POTTER ANDERSON & CORROON LLP
1313 N. Market St., 6th Floor
Wilmington, DE 19801
(302) 984-6000
56
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COMBINED CERTIFICATIONS
I, the undersigned, hereby certify the following:
32(a)(7)(B) because it contains 12,997 words, excluding the parts of the brief
32(a)(5) and the type style requirements of Fed. R. App. P. 32(a)(6) because it has
4. That the text of the electronic and paper versions of the foregoing
5. That a virus check was performed on this brief using Avast Antivirus
filed with the Clerk of Court using the CM/ECF System, which will send notice of
v.
________________________
JOINT APPENDIX
Volume I of II
(Pages: 1 – 19)
________________________
Counsel for Appellants Counsel for Appellants Counsel for Appellee Counsel for Appellees
Federal Housing Finance Agency Federal Housing Finance Agency;
Federal National Mortgage Assoc.;
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp
Deepthy Kishore Robert C. Merritt, III Gerard J. Sinzdak Meaghan M. VerGow, Esq.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Abby C. Wright Direct: 202-383-5300
Civil Division Civil Division, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Email: [email protected]
P.O. Box 883 Federal Programs Branch 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Fax: 202-383-5414
Ben Franklin Station 20 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. Rooms 7242 & 7252 [COR NTC Retained]
Washington, DC 20044 Room 7130 Washington, DC 20530 O'Melveny & Myers
(202) 616-4448 Washington, DC 20530 (202) 514-0718 1625 I Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20006
Counsel for Appellee Counsel for Appellee Counsel for Appellee Counsel for Appellee
U.S. Dept. of Treasury U.S. Dept. of Treasury U.S. Dept. of Treasury Federal National Mortgage Assoc.
GibsonMoore Appellate Services, LLC ♦ 206 East Cary Street ♦ P.O. Box 1460 (23218) ♦ Richmond, VA 23219
804-249-7770 ♦ www.gibsonmoore.net
Case: 17-3794 Document: 003112862693 Page: 67 Date Filed: 02/27/2018
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Appendix - Volume I of II
Page:
Order
filed November 27, 2017.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Memorandum Opinion
filed November 27, 2017.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
-i-
Case: 17-3794 Document: 003112862693 Page: 68 Date Filed: 02/27/2018
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Appendix - Volume II of II
Page:
Docket Entries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Exhibits to
Defendant U.S. Dept. of Treasury’s Opening Brief in
Support of Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction
filed April 17, 2017:
C. Third Amendment to
Senior Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements
dated August 17, 2012.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
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Case: 17-3794 Document: 003112862693 Page: 69 Date Filed: 02/27/2018
Exhibits to
Defendants FHFA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s Opening Brief in
Support of Motion to Dismiss First Amended Complaint
filed April 17, 2017:
Exhibits to
Plaintiffs’ Brief in Opposition to Defendants’
Motions to Dismiss the First Amended Complaint
filed June 16, 2017:
B. Bylaws of the
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation
As amended and restated July 7, 2016. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
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Exhibits to
Plaintiffs’ Brief in Opposition to Defendants’
Motions to Dismiss the First Amended Complaint
filed June 16, 2017, Continued:
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Case: 17-3794 Document: 003112862693 Page: 71 Date Filed: 02/27/2018
Exhibits to
Plaintiffs’ Brief in Opposition to Defendants’
Motions to Dismiss the First Amended Complaint
filed June 16, 2017, Continued:
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Exhibit to
Defendants FHFA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac’s Reply Brief in
Support of Motion to Dismiss First Amended Complaint
filed July 17, 2017:
Exhibits to
Plaintiffs’ Motion for Judicial Notice of Documents Or, in the
Alternative, to Strike Certain Arguments in Defendants’ Briefing in
Support of Their Motions to Dismiss
filed September 8, 2017:
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Exhibits to
Plaintiffs’ Motion for Judicial Notice of Documents Or, in the
Alternative, to Strike Certain Arguments in Defendants’ Briefing in
Support of Their Motions to Dismiss
filed September 8, 2017, Continued:
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Plaintiffs,
v.
Defendants,
JURY TRIAL DEMANDED
and
Nominal Defendants.
Plaintiffs David Jacobs and Gary Hindes (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) hereby give notice
that they are taking this appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from
this Court’s Order granting Defendants Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (“FHFA”), in its
capacity as conservator of the Companies, and United States Department of the Treasury’s
(“Treasury”) Motions to Dismiss (D.I. 81); and from any and all adverse rulings incorporated in,
or antecedent to, or ancillary to the Court’s Order, including the Court’s November 27, 2017
Memorandum Opinion (D.I. 80) and the Court’s denial of Plaintiffs’ Motion For Judicial Notice
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Case: 17-3794 Document: 003112862693 Page: 75 Date Filed: 02/27/2018
Case 1:15-cv-00708-GMS Document 82 Filed 12/21/17 Page 2 of 2 PageID #: 2352
Included herewith is payment of the filing fee ($5.00) and the docketing fee ($500.00) as
required by 28 U.S.C. §§ 1913 and 1917, Third Circuit Local Appellate Rules 3.3 and 39.2,
Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 3(e), and the United States District Court for the District of
2
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Case: 17-3794 Document: 003112862693 Page: 76 Date Filed: 02/27/2018
ORDER
Consistent with the memorandum qpinion issued this same date, IT IS HEREBY
ORDERED that:
2. Plaintiffs' first amended class action and derivative complaint (D.I. 62) is DISMISSED
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Myron T. Steele, Esq., Michael A. Pittenger, Esq., Christopher N. Kelly, Esq., and Alan R.
Silverstein, Esq. of Potter Anderson & Corroon LLP, Wilmington, DE. Counsel for Plaintiffs.
Robert I'. Stearn, Jr., Esq. and Robert C. Maddox, Esq. of Richards, Layton & Finger, P.A.,
Wilmington, DE. Counsel for Defendants Federal Housing Finance Agency, Federal National
Mortgage Assoc., and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. Of Counsel: Howard N. Cayne,
Esq., Asim Varma, Esq., and David B. Bergman, Esq. of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP,
Washington, DC; Jeffrey W. Kilduff, Esq. and Michael Walsh, Esq. of O'Melveny & Meyers
LLP, Washington, DC; and Michael Joseph Ciatti, Esq. and Graciela Maria Rodriquez, Esq. of
King & Spalding LLP, Washington DC.
David C. Weiss, Esq. and Jennifer L. Hall, Esq. of U.S. Attorney's Office, Wilmington, DE.
Counsel for Defendant U.S. Dept. of Treasury. Of Counsel: Chad A. Readier, Esq., Diane
Kelleher, Esq., Thomas D. Zimpleman, Esq., Deepthy Kishore, Esq., and Robert C. Merritt, Esq.
of U.S. Dept. of Justice Civil Division, Washington DC.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
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I. INTRODUCTION
This action is one of several lawsuits filed by the stockholders of the Federal National
Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae") and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Association
("Freddie Mac") challenging what the parties call a "Net Worth Sweep," which is a provision in
the Third Amendment to the Amended and Restated Senior Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements
(the "Third Amendment") governing the payment of dividends. The Third Amendment was
entered into by the United States Department ofthe Treasury ("Treasury") and the Federal Housing
Finance Agency (the "Agency," and collectively with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Treasury, the
''Defendants"). At the time, the Agency was acting in its capacity as conservator of Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac (each a "Company," and collectively, the "Companies"). Plaintiffs David Jacobs
and Gary Hines (collectively, "Plaintiffs") seek equitable relief based on their assertion that the
Net Worth Sweep violates state statutory schemes governing corporations and unjustly enriches
The court has subject matter jurisdiction over this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331,
1332, and 1367. Currently pending bef?re the court are Defendants' motions to dismiss the
complaint. (D.I. 65, D.I. 67). Defendants have raised a multitude of arguments as to why the
complaint should be dismissed, including the anti-injunction clause in the Housing and Economic
Recovery Act of2008 ("HERA"), 12 U.S.C. § 4617(f), the succession clause in HERA, 12 U.S.C.
§ 4617(b)(2)(A)(i), the requirement to state a claim under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), issue preclusion
and, with respect to Treasury alone, sovereign immunity. (D.I. 66, D.I. 6~). For the reasons
discussed below, the court finds that the anti-injunction clause in Section§ 4617(f) deprives it of
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subject matter jurisdiction. Because Plaintiffs do not clear this threshold hurdle, the court is
II. BACKGROUND
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are government-sponsored enterprises (a "GSE") created to
increase liquidity in the mortgage market. (D.I. 68 at 5; D.I. 621130-31). A GSE is a corporation
established. by congressional charter but privately owned, meaning its stock is owned by private
entities and individuals. 2 U.S.C. 622(8). For purposes of corporate governance, the Companies
had to designate the law of the state in which its principal office is located or Delaware General
Corporation Law. (D.I. 62 at, 32 (citing 12 C.F.R. § 1710.10)). Fannie Mae selected Delaware
law, and Freddie Mac selected Virginia law. (Id. at~ 32).
In 2008, a global financial crisis and nationwide decline in the housing market caused the
Companies to suffer loses. (Id. at, 33). To address the crisis, Congress passed HERA, which
authorized the Agency to place the Companies into conservatorship or receivership. (Id. 134; see
also 12 U.S.C. § 4617(2)). On September 6, 2008, the Agency exercised its power under HERA
and placed the Companies into conservatorship. (D.I. 62 if 35). Shortly thereafter, each Company,
acting through the Agency as a conservator, entered into a Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement (a
"Stock Purchase Agreement") with Treasury. (Id. at if 36). Under the Stock Purchase Agreements,
Treasury committed to advance funds to the Companies for each quarter in which the Companies'
liabilities exceeded its assets, so as to maintain the Companies' positive net worth. (D.I. 68 at 7).
The funding commitment was capped at $100 billion for each Company. (D.1. 62 1if 8, 36). In
return, Treasury received from each Company shares of a newly created class of senior preferred
stock worth $1 billion and warrants to purchase 79.9% of the common stock. (Id., 8). The Stock
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Purchase Agreements gave Treasury the right to: (1) an aggregate liquidation preference equal to
$1 billion plus the sum of all additional arnow1ts drawn on Treasury's funding commitment; and
(2) a quarterly dividend equal to a percentage of the outstanding liquidation preference: 10%, if
paid in cash, or 12%, if paid "in-kind." (Id. at ~ii 8-9). If the quarterly dividend was in-kind, the
The Stock Purchase Agreements were amended twice in 2009- first, on May 6, 2009, to
raise the funding commitment for each Company from $100 billion to $200 billion and, again, on
December 24, 2009, to raise the funding commitment according to a formula that would be capped
at the end of 2012. (D.I. 68 at 8). On August 17, 2012, Treasury and the Agency, acting as
conservator for the Companies, entered into the Third Amendment. (D.I. 621 1). Among other
things, the Third Amendment changed the formula for calculating the quarterly dividend. (D.I. 68
at 9). Now, the Companies would owe a quarterly dividend in the amount (if any) of the
Company's positive net worth, minus a capital reserve. (D.I. 66 at 9). Plaintiffs refer to this
dividend formula as a "Net Worth Sweep," and allege that Defendants agreed tp the Net Worth
Sweep as way to improperly expropriate for the federal government the value the Companies were
generating after they returned to profitability in 2012. (D.I. 62 ~139, 42, 46).
B. Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Jacobs has continuously held stock in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since
November 2009. (D.I. 62 ~ 24). According to the complaint, PlaintiffHindes ''has been an investor
in Fannie Mae and Freddi Mac since 2011." (Id. at 125). The complaint does not allege, however,
that Hindes currently holds any Fannie Mae stock. In addition, Hindes currently holds Freddie
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Mac stock purchased in February 2015, i.e., purchased after Defendants executed the Third
Under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(l), a complaint may be dismissed for "lack of subject-matter
jurisdiction." Challenges to subject matter jurisdiction may be facial or factual. Lincoln Ben. Life
Co. v. AEI Life, LLC, 800 F.3d 99, 105 (3d Cir. 2015). A facial attack contests the sufficiency of
the pleadings, whereas a factual attack contests the sufficiency of jurisdictional facts. Id.
According to Defendants, Section 46 l 7(f) is a facial attack to subject matter jurisdiction.2 (D.I.
66 at 9; D.I. 68 at 9). In reviewing a facial attack, ''the court must only consider the allegations of
the complaint and documents referenced therein and attached thereto, in the light most favorable
to the plaintiff." Gould Elec. Inc. v. United States, 220 F.3d 169, 176 (3d Cir. 2000).
IV. DISCUSSION
Section 4617(f) of HERA states, in relevant part, that "no court may take any action to
restrain or affect the exercise of powers or functions of the Agency as a conservator or a receiver."
12 U.S.C. § 4617(f). Courts construing the scope of Section 4617(f) have relied on decisions
addressing Section 1821 G), a nearly identical jurisdictional bar applicable to conservatorships with
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") and its predecessor, the Resolution Trust
The timing of Hindes' investments in the Companies raises questions regarding his
standing and adequacy as a representative plaintiff. See, e.g., Quadrant Structured Prod Co., Ltd
v. Vertin, 102 A.3d 155, 178 (Del. Ch. 2014) (describing Delaware's contemporaneous and
continuous ownership requirements for derivative plaintiffs); In re Heckmann Corp. Sec. Litig.,
2013 WL 2456104, at * 11 (D. Del. June 6, 2013) (stating that the interests of the putative class
representative is usually similar to and sufficiently aligned with the potential class members,
because all class members suffered the same harm).
2
Plaintiffs have not challenged this assertion.
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Corporation ("RTC").3 Natural Res. Def Council, Inc. v. Fed. Housing Fin. Agency, 815 F. Supp.
2d 630, 641(S.D.N.Y.2011), aff'd sub nom. Town ofBabylon v. Fed. Housing Fin. Agency, 699
F.3d 221 (2d Cir. 2012); Saxton v. Fed. Housing Fin. Agency, 245 F. Supp. 3d 1063, 1075 (N.D.
Iowa 2017) (stating that Section 4617(f) has the same scope as the substantially similar anti-
As construed, Section 4617(f) deprives the court of subject matter jurisdiction over claims
seeking equitable and injunctive relief, unless the challenged actions are outside the Agency's
statutory powers. See Perry Capital LLC v. Mnuchin, 864 F.3d 591, 612 (D.C. Cir. 2017)
(Plaintiffs burden is to show that the Agency's actions were "frolicking outside of statutory limits
as a matter of law''); see also Gross v. Bell Sav. Bank PA SA, 974 F.2d 403, 407 (3d Cir. 1992)
(stating that Section 182l(j) permits review only "where the [FDIC] is acting clearly outside its
statutory powers"). As a threshold matter, Plaintiffs seek "equitable and injunctive relief' against
both the Agency and Treasury. (D.I. 62 ii C). Specifically, Plaintiffs seek: (i) a declaratory
judgment that the Net Worth Sweep is void and unenforceable under Section 151 of the Delaware
General Corporation Law ("DGCL") and Section 13.1-638 of the Virginia Stock Corporation Act
("VSCA"); (ii) a declaratory judgment that Treasury was unjustly enriched, (ii) rescission of the
Net Worth Sweep; and (iv) restitution. (Id. at ii 84, 92, 99, 106, and Prayer for Relief). There is
no dispute that this relief, if granted against the Agency when the Agency was acting within its
3
Section 1821(j) is codified in the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and
Enforcement Act of 1989 ("FIRREA"), and states in relevant part: "no court may take any action
... to restrain or affect the exercise of powers or functions of the [FDIC or RTC] as a conservator
or a receiver." 12 U.S .C. § 1821(j).
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power, would restrain or affect the Agency's use ofits power. 4 (D.I. 69 at 33-35, 39). This leaves
two questions for the court. Was the Third Amendment outside the Agency's statutory powers?
. .
Would the same equitable relief, if granted against Treasury, restrain or affect the Agency's use of
The powers of the Agency, as conservator, are "defined by" its governing statute, HERA,
without any exception or limitation for compliance with other laws. See Rosa v. Resolution Trust
Corp., 938 F.2d 383, 398 (3d Cir. 1991) (stating that the powers of the RTC as conservator or
receiver "are defined by FIRREA"). Where the Agency performs functions assigned to it under
HERA, equitable and injunctive relief will be denied "even where [it] acts in violation of other
statutory schemes." Gross, 974 F.2d at 407; see also Rosa, 938 F.2d at 398 ("(T]o the extent of a
conflict between [Section 182l(j)] and provisions of ERISA authorizing relief, § 18210)
controls"). Plaintiffs try to avoid this adverse precedent by arguing that the purported violations
of the DGCL and VSCA (i.e., state corporate law) are not claims based on "other statutory
schemes." (D.I. 69. at 39). Instead, these violations "contravened and exceeded [the Agency's]
statutory authority under HERA itself." (Id.). For the reasons explained below, the court
disagrees.
4
Courts have consistently held that rescission, restitution, and declaratory judgments
restrain or affect the conservator's powers. See, e.g., BKWSpolcane, LLC v. Fed Deposit Ins.
Corp., 663 Fed. App'x 524, 527 (9th Cir. 2016) (stating that Section l 82l(j) bars a claim for unjust
enrichment); Hindes v. Fed. Deposit Ins. Corp., 137 F.3d 148, 159 (3d Cir. 1998) (agreeing that
Section 18210) precluded claims for declaratory judgment and rescission); Freeman v. Fed.
Deposit Ins. Corp., 56 F.3d 1394, 1399 (D.C. Cir. 1995) (stating that Section 1821(j) bars
declaratory relief and rescission); Centennial Assocs. Ltd. P 'ship v. Fed. Deposit Ins. Corp., 927
F. Supp. 806, 812 (D.N.J. 1996) (stating that Section 1821 (j) deprives courts of the power to grant
rescission).
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The court will first explain why the Agency was acting within its statutory powers when it
executed the Third Amendment and then explain why it rejects Plaintiffs' arguments to the
contrary. Only two of Plaintiffs' arguments require extended discussion: (1) that HERA's
succession clause incorporates into the Agency's powers any limitations the DGCL and VSCA
placed on the Companies' powers, and (2) that the Agency exceeded its powers by failing to follow
HERA's p~ocedures for repudiating private contracts. Plaintiffs' remaining arguments are a
This court concludes, like several other courts, that the Agency acted within its powers
under HERA when it entered into the Third Amendment. Under Section 4617(b), the Agency may
be appointed conservator "for the purpose of reorganizing, rehabilitating, or winding up the affairs
of a regulated entity." 12 U.S.C. § 4617(a)(2). The Agency has the power to: (i) "take over the
assets of and operate" the Companies, (ii) "conduct all business" of the Companies, and (iii)
"transfer or sell any asset" of the Companies "without any approval, assignment, or consent." 12
U.S.C. § 4617(b)(2)(B)&(G). In addition, the Agency has the power to take any actions: (i)
"necessary to put [the Companies] in a sound and solvent condition;" and (ii) "appropriate to ...
preserve and conserve the assets of the regulated entity." 12 U.S.C. § 4617(b)(2)(D).
The Stock Purchase Agreement and the Third Amendment thereto provided a funding
commitment intended to ensure that the Companies remained in a sound and solvent condition.
(See D.I. 66-1 at~ A). In exchange for the funding commitment, the Agency transferred or sold
(or committed to transfer or sell) assets of the Companies to the U.S. Treasury, in the form of
quarterly dividends and a liquidation preference. (Id. at§ 3). The Third Amendment changed the
terms by which those assets would be transferred or sold. (D.I. 66-3). Accordingly, as several
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other courts have found, the Third Amendment falls squarely within the powers granted to the
Agency under HERA, because renegotiating dividend agreements, managing debt obligations, and
ensuring ongoing access to capital are some of the quintessential tasks of reorganizing, operating,
and preserving a business. See Perry Capital, 864 F.3d at 607 (finding that the Agency's
execution of the Third Amendment fell squarely within its statutory authority to operate the
Companies, reorganize their affairs, and take such action as may be appropriate to carry on their
business); Collins v. Fed. Housing Fin. Agency, 254 F. Supp. 3d 841 , 846 (S.D. Tex. 2017) (stating
that plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that the Third Amendment was "outside the scope of [the
Agency's] broad authority as conservator"); Saxton, 245 F. Supp. 3d at 1076 (finding that the
Agency's powers as conservator "plainly allow for the actions contemplated by the Third
Amendment"); Roberts, 243 F. Supp. 3d at 963 ("All told, the Plaintiffs have not sufficiently
alleged that (the Agency] acted outside the bounds of its statutory authority" when executing the
Third Amendment); Robinson v. Fed. Housing Fin. Agency, 223 F. Supp. 3d 659, 667-71 (E.D.
Ky. 2016) (holding that the Third Amendment was within the Agency's powers and functions).
Plaintiffs argue that the Third Amendmen t exceeded the Agency's statutory powers under
HERA, because it contravened the DGCL and VSCA, i.e., the state corporate law ofDelaware and
Virginia respectively. (DJ. 69 at 36-38). According to Plaintiffs, HERA incorporated all of the
restrictions state corporate law imposes on the Companies and, as a result, the Agency "may not
take actions as conservator that Fannie [Mae] and Freddie [Mac] could not themselves have taken."
(Id. at 36-37). Plaintiffs base this argument on the succession clause in HERA, which states that
the Agency, as conservator, "immediately succeed[s] to ... all rights, titles, powers, and privileges
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of the regulated entity, and of any stockholder, officer, or director of [the Companies] with respect
The court finds this argument unpersuasive for many reasons. First, Plaintiffs' reading of
Section 4617(f)- which would make equitable relief against the Agency available in every
situation where it would be available against the Companies-renders Section 4617(f) superfluous.
As a general rule of statutory construction, courts "strive to avoid a result that would render
statutory language superfluous, meaningless, or irrelevant." Cushman v. Trans Union Corp., 115
F.3d 220, 225 (3d Cir. 1997). Second, Plaintiffs' reading is contrary to well-established case law
that equitable relief will be denied, "even where the [conservator] acts in violation of other
statutory schemes." Gross, 974 F.2d at 407; Rosa, 938 F.2d at 397 (rejecting argument that the
FDIC exceeds its statutory authority for purposes of Section 1821 G) when the challenged acts are
illegal under ERISA). If a conservator exceeded its statutory powers when it violated state law,
then claims based on violations of other statutory schemes would not have been barred by Section
1821(j) or Section 4617(f). Third, Plaintiffs' interpretation is inconsistent with the purpose of
HERA itself. The sweeping limitations Section 4617(f) places on judicial review "may appear
drastic," but that fully accords with Congress' intent to broadly empower the Agency to act in
5
Plaintiffs also base their argument on two other HERA provlSlons: the Agency's
discretionary authority to perform all functions of the Companies "in the name of' the
Companies," and to operate the Companies "with all the powers of the shareholders, the directors,
and the officers." (D.I. 69 at 36 (citing 12 U.S.C. § 4617(b)(2)(B))). Because these grants of
authority "are permissive powers of [the Agency] and not duties with which they are required to
comply," see Robinson, 223 F. Supp. 3d at 669 (emphasis in original omitted), they are far weaker
statutory grounds for Plaintiffs' argument than the succession clause. So the court will not address
them.
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Finally, the cases Plaintiffs cite in support of their argument are easily distinguishable.
(See, D.I. 69 at 36-3 7). 0 'Melveny & Myers addressed whether "federal common law'' preempted
state common law when the FDIC asserted state tort claims, in its capacity as a receiver.
O'Melveny & Myers v. Fed. Deposit Ins. Corp., 512 U.S. 79, 86 (1994). O'Melveny & Myers did
not address, in any manner whatsoever, whether the FDIC's statutory powers were curtailed by
state law when it stepped into the shoes of a failed bank. In Bank of Manhattan and Sharpe, the
courts found that Section 1821 (j) did not bar plaintiffs from asserting a breach of contract claim
against the FDIC, in its capacity as receiver for a bank, because the FDIC was bound by the terms
of a private commercial contract executed by plaintiffs and the bank before the receivership. See
Bank of Manhattan, NA. v. Fed Deposit Ins. Corp., 778 F.3d 1133, 1135-36 (9th Cir. 2015);
Sha1pe v. Fed. Deposit Ins. Corp., 126 F.3d 1147, 1154-55 (9th Cir. 1997). Here, Plaintiffs are
not asserting a breach of contract claim. Indeed, Plaintiffs do not have a private commercial
contract with either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Finally, neither Fleischer nor Ridder mention
FIRREA (the act containing Section 18210)), let alone address whether FIRREA's grant of
authority to the FDIC incorporated state law restrictions on the bank's powers. See Ridder v.
CityFed Fin. Corp., 47 F.3d 85, 87 (3d Cir. 1995); Fleischer v. Fed. Deposit Ins. Corp., 70 F.
Supp. 2d 1238 (D. Kan. 1999). For all of these reasons, the court is not persuaded that HERA
incorporated state law limitations on the Companies' authority in such a manner that the Agency
exceeds its statutory authority under HERA when it violates state law.
Plaintiffs argue that the Agency exceeded its statutory authority under HERA by not
complying with the requirements of Section 4617(d), which governs the Agency's repudiation of
contracts between the Companies and third-parties. (D.I. 69 at 38-39). Plaintiffs' argument on
10
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this point is cryptic, but it appears to string together the following assertions. The bylaws of a
corporation are treated by the courts like contracts. (Id.). Thus, Plaintiffs had a contract with the
Companies. The bylaws of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac specified that they would be governed
by the state law of Delaware and Virginia, respectively. (D.l. 62 ii 32). Thus, the terms of
Plaintiffs' contract with the Companies incorporated the DGCL and the VSCA. (Id. at iii! 52, 55).
The Third Amendment purportedly violated Section 151 of the DGCL and Section 13. 1-638 of the
VSCA. (Id. at iii! 55, 83). Thus, the Third Amendment "repudiated" the Companies' contract with
Plaintiffs. (D.1. 69 at 38-39). HERA requires that any contracts repudiated by the Agency must
be repudiated within the 18 months following the Agency' s appointment as a conservator. (Id.).
The Agency became conservator of the Companies in 2008 and the Third Amendment was
executed in 2012. (D.I. 62 ii 1, 35). Thus, the Agency did not repudiate Plaintiffs' contract with
the Companies within 18 months of its appointment. (D.I. 69 at 38-39). The failure to repudiate
a contract within the time allowed under Section 4617(d) means the Agency exceeded its statutory
powers granted in Section 4617(b) to operate the business and sell or transfer its assets. (Id.).
Laid out in this way, the flaws in Plaintiffs' argument become clear. Plaintiffs ask the court
to equate a violation of a state statute with the act of repudiating a contract, but cite no authority
to support their assertion.6 Plaintiffs also cite no authority for the proposition that the Agency's
failure to comply with the 18 month requirement for repudiating contracts means the Agency
exceeded its powers to operate the business. Indeed, cases dismissing equitable claims under
6
Plaintiffs cite to cases stating that bylaws "have all the force of contracts." (D.I. 69 at 38
(citing Lee v. Va. Educ. Ass 'n, Inc. , 1969 WL 101681, at *1 (1969); Allen v. El Paso Pipe/;ne GP
Co., LLC, 90 A.3d 1097, 1107 (Del. Ch. 2014)). But this only shows that courts will rely on
contract principles in deciding how to construe and enforce bylaws.
11
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Section 18210), notwithstanding allegations that the conservator failed to timely repudiate a
contract, indicate that the conservator does not exceed its statutory authority by failing to comply
with the 18 month timing requirement. See MBIA Ins. Corp. v. Fed. Deposit Ins. Corp., 708 F.3d
234, 247 (D.C. Cir. 2013) (dismissing claims seeking a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief
under Section 1821 G) notwithstanding fact that claims were based on receiver's failure to repudiate
a contract in a timely manner); Bender v. CenTrust Mortg. Corp., 833 F. Supp. 1540, 1542-43
(S.D. Fla. 1992) aff'd, 51 F.3d 1027 (11th Cir. 1995) (same). Accordingly, the court finds that,
even if the Third Amendment violated state law and that violation should be treated like a
repudiation of a contract, the Agency did not exceed its statutory powers in failing to repudiate the
Plaintiffs raise a hodgepodge of weaker arguments as to how the Agency exceeded its
statutory powers under HERA. Each of these arguments are rejected for the reasons explained
below. First, Plaintiffs argue that the transfer of the Companies assets "ignore HERA's detailed
procedures and order of priorities for the distribution of assets during liquidation," codified at 12
U.S.C. § 4617(b)(3)-(9), (c). (D.I. 69 at 42). The Companies, however, are not in liquidation, so
Second, Plaintiffs make the cursory assertion that, under Section 4617(b)(2)(G), the
Agency may only transfer assets "as conservator or receiver," but the Agency "was not acting in
either capacity" when it paid the Net Worth Sweep in accordance with the terms of the Third
Amendment. (Id.). The Agency has only three capacities: conservator, receiver, or regulator.
Plaintiffs have made no argument and cited no authority to show that the Agency was acting as a
regulator when it executed the Third Amendment. In addition, the Complaint alleges that the Third
12
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Amendment was executed by the Agency "in its capacity as conservator of Fannie Mae and
Third, Plaintiffs assert that the Net Worth Sweep exceeded the Agency's powers, because
it did not put the Companies in a "sound and solvent condition," and/or "preserve and conserve
their assets and property," as HERA purportedly requires. (Id. at 43 (internal brackets omitted)).
As several other courts have explained in rejecting similar arguments, these are permissive powers
under HERA, not obligatory. Perry Capital, 864 F.3d at 606-07. The Agency's "alleged failure
to exercise its permissive power ... does not remove Plaintiffs claims from the ambit of Section
4617(f)'s bar on equitable relief." Robinson, 223 F. Supp. 3d at 670; Roberts, 243 F. Supp. 3d at
Similarly, Plaintiffs argue that the Net Worth Sweep exceeded the Agency's powers,
because it did not "maximize the net present value return." (D.I. 69 at 43). As the Fifth Circuit
explained in rejecting this same argument: "[Plaintiffs] failO (or refuse[]) to recognize the
difference between the exercise of a function or ppwer that is clearly outside the statutory authority
ofthe [Agency] on the one hand, and improperly or even unlawfully exercising a function or power
that is clearly authorized by statute on the other." Ward v. Resolution Trust Corp., 996 F.2d 99,
103 (5th Cir. 1993). None can question that the Agency, as conservator, is statutorily authorized
to transfer or sell the assets of the Companies. Id. So, "even assuming arguendo, that (as alleged
by [Plaintiffs]) the [Agency] exercised the power or function of [transferring or selling assets] in
a way that failed to maximize the net present value return or to afford fair and consistent treatment
to all [stockholders], [Plaintiffs] could not prevail." Id. "For, even if the [Agency] improperly or
unlawfolJy exercised an authorized power or function, it clearly did not engage in an activity
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Finally, Plaintiffs suggest that the powers granted to the Agency under Section 4617 are
limited to "routine transfers of discrete assets," which the Net Worth Sweep purportedly was not.
(D.I. 69 at 44). Plaintiffs, again, cite no authority supporting this suggestion. The plain text of
Section 4617 includes no such limitation. And, reading such a limitation into Section 4617 would
be contrary to the very purpose for which HERA was enacted- to mitigate the effects of a global
It is well established that Plaintiffs cannot make an end-run around Section 46 l 7(f) by
asserting claims for equitable and injunctive relief against the Agency's contractual counterparty,
when the contract in question was within the scope of the Agency's powers. Perry Capital LLC
v. Lew, 70 F. Supp. 3d208, 222 (D.D.C. 2014). Section4617(f) bars claims that "restrain or affect"
the Agency's exercise of its powers, and a claim against the Agency's counterparty "affect[s]" the
Agency's exercise of its powers. See Perry Capital, 864 F.3d at 615 ("[T]he effect of any
injunction or declaratory judgment aimed at Treasury's adoption of the Third Amendment would
have just as direct and immediate an effect as if the injunction operated directly on [the Agency].");
Dittmer Prop., L.P. v. Fed. Deposit Ins. Corp., 708 F.3d 1011, 1017 (8th Cir. 2013) (finding that
a claim against the FDIC's counterparty "would certainly restrain or affect FDIC's powers");
Hindes v. Fed. Deposit Ins. Co1p., 137 F.3d 148, 160 (3d Cir. 1998) (barring a claim against a
third party which would "have the same practical result as an order directed against the FDIC");
Roberts, 243 F. Supp. 3d at 960 ("It takes two to tango, and undoing one side of the Third
Amendment against Treasury necessarily affects [the Agency], which is, after all, the other party
to the Third Amendment."). Accordingly, Section 4617(±) bars Plaintiffs' claims against Treasury.
See Saxton, 245 F. Supp. 3d at 1078 (holding that plaintiffs' claims against Treasury are barred by
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Section 4617(f) because such relief would undoubtedly restrain or affect the Agency's functions
C. Motion to Strike
Plaintiffs have asked the court to take judicial notice of documents purportedly
undennining any assertion by Defendants that: (1) the Net Worth Sweep was necessary to stop the
Companies' circular practice of borrowing funds from Treasury in order to pay Treasury the
quarterly dividend; and (2) the Agency entered into the Third Amendment in order to preserve and
conserve the assets of the Companies. (D.I. 75 at 3). In the alternative, Plaintiffs ask the court
strike any arguments that rely on these assertions. The court denies the motion as moot. The court
did not rely on these assertions or any facts related to these assertions in deciding the motion to
dismiss, as that would have been improper under the standard of review for a facial attack on
V. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, Defendants' motions to dismiss (D.I. 65, D.I. 67) are granted.
The complaint (D.I. 62) is dismissed with prejudice, because lack of subject matter jurisdiction
cannot be cured by amendment. See US. ex rel. Schumann v. Astrazeneca Pharm. L.P., 769 F.3d
837, 849 (3d Cir. 2014). Plaintiffs' motion for judicial notice of documents or, in the alternative,
to strike certain arguments in Defendants' briefs (D.I. 75) is denied as moot. An appropriate order
will be entered.
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