Opinion ID: 469097
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: test to be utilized in determining whether the fdic is an

Text: AGENCY OF THE UNITED STATES There is no case on point which specifically addresses the precise issue presented. There are cases which deal with analogous issues. The Ninth Circuit had to resolve the issue of whether the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC) was an agency as that term is defined in 28 U.S.C. Sec. 451 and 1345. Acron Investments, Inc. v. Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, 363 F.2d 236 (9th Cir.1966), cert. denied, 385 U.S. 970, 87 S.Ct. 506, 17 L.Ed.2d 434 (1966). The court noted initially that: The term agency includes any department, independent establishment, commission, administration, authority, board or bureau of the United States or any corporation in which the United States has a proprietary interest, unless the context shows that such was intended to be used in a more limited sense. 28 U.S.C. Sec. 451. Appellee contended that the phrase in which the United States has a proprietary interest had to mean that the United States must own more than 50% of the stock outstanding in the corporation. The Ninth Circuit emphatically rejected this argument, noting that when the interest of the United States is more than incidental or custodial the corporation meets the definition of agency as contained in Section 451. Acron Investments, Inc. v. Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, supra at 240. Faced with a similar jurisdictional point in a subsequent case, this circuit relied and expanded upon the analysis provided by the Ninth Circuit. In Government National Mortgage Corporation v. Terry, 608 F.2d 614 (5th Cir.1979), we had to determine whether the Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA) was an agency for purposes of 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1345 and thus able to sue as a plaintiff in federal district court. To resolve the uncertainties, the court explored the proprietary interest requirement of Section 451. Because GNMA was a government corporation in which stock had not been issued, focus was shifted to indicia other than stock ownership to decide whether the interest of the United States in GNMA was more than incidental or custodial. The Terry court, after a careful examination of the history of the functions, financing, and management of Ginnie Mae and other members of that family tree, concluded that the United States did possess a proprietary interest in those entities sufficient to qualify as a government agency within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. 451. Governmental National Mortgage Association v. Terry, supra at 618, 620. We must address the issue currently before the court within the framework of analysis provided by these decisions. 1 This analysis clearly indicates that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is an agency of the United States for purposes of Title 28 of the United States Code and thus Rule 12 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.