Case Name: UNION BANK OF BROOKLYN v. KANTURK REALTY CORPORATION et al.
Court: New York Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1911-04
Citations: 129 N.Y.S. 635
Docket Number: 
Parties: UNION BANK OF BROOKLYN v. KANTURK REALTY CORPORATION et al.
Judges: 
Reporter: West's New York Supplement
Volume: 129
Pages: 635–635

Head Matter:
UNION BANK OF BROOKLYN v. KANTURK REALTY CORPORATION et al.
(Supreme Court, Special Term, Kings County.
April, 1911.)
Banks and Banking (§ 77 )—Liquidation—Action bt Superintendent op Banks—Counterclaim—Verification.
Under Banking Law (Consol. Laws 1909, c. 2) § 19,. providing for liquidation of the affairs of banks through the Superintendent of Banks, who may appoint deputies to assist him therein, and giving him power to collect money due the bank, which he can do by action in the name of the bank, a verified counterclaim, requiring a verified reply, being interposed, he or his deputy is vested with power, as an agent of the bank, for verifying and interposing the reply.
[Ed. Note.—For other cases, see Banks and Banking, Dec. Dig. § 77. ]
Action by the Union Bank of Brooklyn against the Kanturk Realty Corporation and another. Heard on motion.
Motion granted.
Rollins & Rollins (Allen P. Hallett, of counsel), for plaintiff.
Smith, Doughty & Weynberg (David H. M. Weynberg, of counsel), for defendant Kanturk Realty Corporation.
For other cases see same topic & § number in Dec. & Am. Digs. 1907 to date, & Rep’r Indexes

Opinion:
BLACKMAR, J.
The same power which prescribed the method of verifying pleadings, namely, the Legislature, also enacted section 19 of the banking law (Consol. Laws 1902, c. 2), and they must be read together. Section 19 provides for the liquidation of the affairs of the bank through the Superintendent of Banks, who may appoint special deputy superintendents to assist him in the duty of liquidation and distribution. The Superintendent is given power to collect moneys due to the bank. This he may do by suits at law in the name of the corporation. Lafayette Trust Company v. Higginbotham, 136 App. Div. 747, 121 N. Y. Supp. 489.
As he has the power to collect moneys, he also has the power to defend against counterclaims set up in suits for the collection of such moneys; and, if a verified counterclaim requires a verified reply, it necessarily follows that the Legislature created the Superintendent or his deputy an agent of the corporation for this necessary step in the collection of the assets. If this be not so, the Superintendent would be unable to defend against a counterclaim against the wishes of the officers of the bank, who might refuse to verify a reply. As the Superintendent is given power to collect the assets, he is by necessary implication vested with all the powers necessary to be exercised in the performance of his duties. Among these is the power to interpose a reply to a verified claim in an action brought by him in pursuance of his duty in liquidating the affairs of the bank.
Motion granted, but, as the question seems to be a new one, without costs.