Redington v. Touche Ross & Co.

• Decision Date: 01 March 1977
• Docket Number: No. 76 Civ. 1981.,76 Civ. 1981.
• Citation: 428 F. Supp. 483
• Parties: Edward S. REDINGTON, as Trustee for the liquidation of the business of Weis Securities, Inc., and Securities Investor Protection Corporation, Plaintiffs, v. TOUCHE ROSS & CO., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

428 F. Supp. 483

Edward S. REDINGTON, as Trustee for the liquidation of the business of Weis Securities, Inc., and Securities Investor Protection Corporation, Plaintiffs, v. TOUCHE ROSS & CO., Defendant.

No. 76 Civ. 1981.

United States District Court, S. D. New York.

March 1, 1977.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Hughes, Hubbard & Reed, New York City, for plaintiff Edward S. Redington, as Trustee for the liquidation of the business of Weis Securities, Inc.; John S. Allee, James B. Kobak, Jr., William S. Barrett, New York City, of counsel.

Hawkins, Delafield & Wood, New York City, for plaintiff Securities Investor Protection Corp.; Clarence Fried, New York City, Wilfred R. Caron, Michael E. Don, Washington, D. C., Rafael Pastor, New York City, of counsel.

Rosenman, Colin, Freund, Lewis & Cohen, New York City, for defendant Touche Ross & Co.; Arnold I. Roth, James K. Nevling, Jr., Arthur Linker, Marc S. Dreier, Steven A. Asher, New York City, of counsel.

WYATT, District Judge.

This is a motion by defendant Touche Ross & Co. (Touche) to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, on two grounds: that the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction, and that the complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted; in the alternative, it is sought to stay this action pending determination of an action between the same parties in the New York Supreme Court, New York County.

1.

Weis Securities, Inc. (Weis), was a large stock brokerage house. Weis was a brokerdealer registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and was a member of the New York Stock Exchange and of other stock exchanges. Weis is said to be a corporation, although where incorporated does not appear; its principal place of business is said to have been in the City of New York.

Touche is a firm of certified public accountants and acted as such for Weis.

In May 1973, Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) applied to this Court for a decree adjudicating, under the Securities Investor Protection Act of 1970 (15 U.S.C. §§ 78aaa and following; "SIPA"), that customers of Weis were in need of protection under SIPA, appointing a trustee for the liquidation of Weis, and affording other relief. This Court granted the application and appointed Edward S. Redington as Trustee (referred to usually as the "Trustee"). The proceedings in which the Trustee was appointed are described in Exchange National Bank v. Wyatt, 517 F.2d 453 (2d Cir. 1975). The Trustee was appointed on May 30, 1973; the "filing date" (15 U.S.C. § 78eee(b)(4)(B)) was May 24, 1973. Weis has since been in liquidation under SIPA.

2.

On July 3, 1975, the Trustee and SIPC commenced an action against Touche in New York Supreme Court, New York County (Index No. 13996/76; the action has a 1976 number because the first paper filed in the action was in 1976). The causes of action of each plaintiff were separately stated but there were in the complaint 21 paragraphs of "common allegations" which were then incorporated by reference in each claim of the Trustee and in each claim of SIPC. There were five causes of action by the Trustee and four causes of action by SIPC.

3.

The case at bar was commenced in this Court on April 30, 1976. The parties are the same as those in the State action. The Trustee and SIPC are again suing Touche.

The complaint in the case at bar asserts exactly the same claims as in the State action and adds claims by the Trustee and SIPC based on alleged violations by Touche of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. §§ 78a and following; "the 1934 Act"), specifically of Section 17 of the 1934 Act (15 U.S.C. § 78q).

The "common allegations" are the same in both actions except that three paragraphs have been added here to shore up the added Section 17 claims of the Trustee and SIPC.

In this action, there are 6 claims by the Trustee and 8 claims by SIPC. (The claims are mistakenly called causes of action in the complaint, ignoring Fed.R.Civ.P. 8 and following the nomenclature in the State courts.)

The two plaintiffs have joined as such (presumably under Fed.R.Civ.P. 20(a) and properly) but their claims are several, not joint, and are stated in separate counts.

Counts two through six of the complaint in the case at bar are exactly the same as the five causes of action of the Trustee in the State action. Count one in the case at bar is the added claim under Section 17 of the 1934 Act.

The first four claims of SIPC in the case at bar are not in the State action and are apparently intended to be based on Section 17 of the 1934 Act although in the first four counts there is no express reference to Section 17 (except as paragraphs 1, 16, 17, 21, and 22 of the complaint are incorporated by reference in these counts). The other four SIPC claims in the case at bar are exactly the same as the four SIPC causes of action in the State action.

4.

The claims in the case at bar are alleged to arise under the 1934 Act and particularly under Section 17 thereof (15 U.S.C. § 78q), under Section 6 of SIPA (15 U.S.C. § 78fff), and under the common law (complaint, para 1).

The complaint avers that the Court has jurisdiction over the claims of the Trustee under Section 27 of the 1934 Act and under 28 U.S.C. § 1331. It further avers (in effect) that the Court has jurisdiction in bankruptcy by virtue of Section 6 of SIPA (15 U.S.C. § 78fff), under Sections 2a(7), 102 and 115 of the Bankruptcy Act (11 U.S.C. §§ 11a(7), 502 and 515), and under 28 U.S.C. § 1334. The complaint also avers jurisdiction over the common law claims of the Trustee under principles of pendent jurisdiction (complaint, para 2).

Jurisdiction over SIPC's claims is alleged to exist under Section 27 of the 1934 Act and 28 U.S.C. § 1331, under the diversity of citizenship statute (28 U.S.C. § 1332) and under principles of pendent jurisdiction (complaint, para 3).

There then follows a series of "Common Allegations" comprising 24 paragraphs of the complaint which are incorporated by reference in both the six counts pleaded by the Trustee and the eight counts pleaded by SIPC.

The complaint avers that five of Weis' officers misstated the financial condition and results of operation of Weis in financial reports prepared at the end of fiscal year 1972, and that such reports were required to be filed with regulatory authorities pursuant to Section 17 of the 1934 Act. It alleges that these reports were directly or indirectly submitted to Weis, its Board of Directors, the SEC, SIPC, the Exchange, and Weis' customers, creditors, lenders and shareholders.

Plaintiffs aver that Touche breached duties it assumed toward them under Section 17 of the 1934 Act and under the common law when it became Weis' auditor and undertook to perform all necessary auditing and accounting services needed to audit the reports of financial condition that Weis was required to submit to the SEC. Essentially, these "common allegations" charge Touche with negligence and recklessness in the performance of its services (para 28); SIPC argues that they also charge wilful misconduct (Memorandum of Plaintiff SIPC in Opposition to Defendant's Motion to Dismiss, p. 5). The complaint also alleges that Touche falsely certified that it had performed the necessary services and made false representations with respect to the Answers to Financial Questionnaire and other documents dated May 26, 1972. The "common allegations" then state that because of these failures and misrepresentations of Touche, the Exchange, the SEC and SIPC were prevented from knowing the true condition of Weis, and were prevented from acting to safeguard the assets of Weis and the property held by Weis for its customers; and that Weis continued to undertake financial obligations which it could not satisfy. As a result of the failure to act of the regulatory authorities, the liquidation of Weis became necessary when the facts were discovered. This was after the Weis assets and the property held by it for customers had been further depleted, and when it was too late to take remedial action. Upon liquidation, SIPC was required under SIPA to provide the Trustee with funds for the payment of claims submitted by customers and "certain other creditors" of Weis.

Paragraphs 32-49 of the complaint state six claims by the Trustee against Touche. The first claim charges that Touche violated, and aided and abetted the Weis officers in violating, Section 17 of the 1934 Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, which require broker-dealers (such as Weis) to file accurate reports of their financial condition, including reports such as those certified by Touche. It further states (para 34) that "Weis, its Board of Directors, its creditors, customers, lenders and shareholders were among the class of persons which Section 17 of the 1934 Act was designed to protect and were among the beneficiaries of duties imposed on Touche Ross by Section 17 of the 1934 Act", and that the injuries which occurred as a result of the liquidation of Weis were of the type that Section 17 was intended to prevent.

The Trustee's other five claims state that Touche breached duties to Weis under the common law of New York. The second claim charges Touche with negligence per se in violating Section 17 of the 1934 Act. The third charges Touche with negligence and malpractice. The fourth charges Touche with recklessness and gross negligence. The Trustee's fifth claim charges breach of contract. The sixth claim charges breach of express and implied warranties that Touche would comply with generally accepted auditing standards, generally accepted accounting principles, and the audit regulations of the Exchange and the SEC.

In paragraphs 52-85 of the complaint, SIPC alleges eight claims against Touche, four on its own behalf and four on behalf of Weis' customers and certain other creditors. The first four claims allege violations of Section 17 of the...