Opinion ID: 771086
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Calex's Interpretation

Text: 28 Calex's argument in support of its interpretation of the phrase payment in full is, as the district court observed, primarily textual. Calex argues, and the district court agreed, that the language of the Weinstock Instruction Letter unambiguously provides for termination upon Prodipe's satisfaction of its obligations under the loan, irrespective of whether those obligations are satisfied through a release or though repayment of the principal and interest outstanding on the loan. This Court rejects Calex's textual argument. 29 Calex contends that the extrinsic evidence shows that the obligations under the Letter Agreement could expire even if the obligations under the Guarantee remain. In support of this argument, Calex points to evidence that it claims shows that the termination provisions of the Guarantee and Letter Agreement were not meant necessarily to be coterminous. Calex argues that the waiver of defenses provision in the Guarantee ensures that the obligations under the Guarantee will continue in situations, such as a release of the debtor, where there might otherwise be a defense, while the obligations under the Letter Agreement - which does not contain such waiver - would not continue in the same situation. Calex further contends that because the Letter Agreement does not refer to the Guarantee, the termination provisions of the two were not intended to be coterminous. 3 However, given that we have already determined that the obligations under the Guarantee survive the debtor's release, see Compagnie Financiere, 188 F.3d at 37, we think that the above arguments are undermined by the fact that even if we assume that the Weinstock Instruction Letter supplies the appropriate termination clause for the Letter Agreement, the obligations under the Guarantee and the Letter Agreement both, by their terms, terminate upon payment in full. As the district court observed, it seems unusual that a Guarantee and an agreement securing that Guarantee would not be co-terminous. 30 Calex further argues that its interpretation of the termination provision does not frustrate the purpose of the Guarantee, maintaining that plaintiffs can look to satisfy the Guarantee from Weinstock's assets outside the Calex account. In support of this argument, Calex claims that plaintiffs agreed to accept an arrangement less secure than a formal security interest or traditional escrow agreement - what Calex called at oral argument a comfort letter - and chose to release the debtor knowing that it only had this informal agreement. Calex, however, was unable to elucidate in its brief or at oral argument how equating payment in full with release would fulfill even the limited purposes of a comfort letter. The district court accepted Calex's argument, holding that it was not convinced, in light of the limited nature of the security provided by the Letter Agreement, that it is necessarily inconsistent for the parties to have also agreed that the agreement would terminate upon Prodipe's satisfaction of its obligations under the loan. The district court, however, did not explain how its interpretation of the agreement supported its finding that the undisputed purpose of the Letter Agreement was to provide a modicum of security to the Plaintiffs. Moreover, regardless of the other arrangements the parties could have made - some more secure than this one - the task before us is to determine, based on the evidence available to us, the intent of the parties as to the termination of the agreement in question. 31 Viewing the record as a whole, the overwhelming weight of the extrinsic evidence supports plaintiffs' contention that the parties intended the Letter Agreement to terminate only upon actual repayment of the loan. Calex's allegation otherwise and its interpretation of the phrase payment in full is not only unsupported by the extrinsic evidence in the record and contrary to the natural and ordinary usage of the phrase, but also directly conflicts with the undisputed purpose of the agreement - to provide plaintiffs with the assurance that they could collect on the Guarantee if necessary. Given the weight of the evidence, no reasonable factfinder could find in Calex's favor. 32 The district court noted that because the summary judgment motion at issue in this appeal followed a bench trial, the trial record was before it. The court also observed that neither party suggested the existence of any additional evidence not already submitted at trial. The parties confirmed at oral argument that the record was complete with regard to extrinsic evidence supporting their interpretations. Because this Court can determine the conditions under which the Letter Agreement expires as a matter of law, this Court need not remand to the district court for a resolution of this case. See Chase Manhattan Bank v. American Nat'l Bank and Trust Co., 93 F.3d 1064, 1072 (2d Cir. 1996) (An appellate court has the power to decide cases on appeal if the facts in the record adequately support the proper result or if the record as a whole presents no genuine issue as to any material fact.) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted); see also IBJ Schroder Bank & Trust Co. v. Fairfield Communities, Inc., 178 F.3d 78, 84 (2d Cir. 1999); cf. Weisgram v. Marley Co., 120 S. Ct. 1011, 1019-22 (2000) (holding that an appellate court may direct entry of judgment as a matter of law under Fed. R. Civ. P. 50, rather than remand to the district court, when it determines that the evidence properly admitted at trial is insufficient for a factfinder to decide in one party's favor. Accordingly, the district court is directed to enter judgment in favor of plaintiffs.