Opinion ID: 369045
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Standing of Chemical Bank

Text: 26 Chemical Bank is not a member of the plaintiff classes in the MDL securities litigation, nor is it otherwise a claimant to any portion of the settlement fund. A question therefore arises as to its standing to object to the Plan of Allocation and to appeal from the order of the MDL Court approving the offset provision of said Plan. 27 Chemical Bank is the indenture trustee for the 9 1/2% EFCA debentureholders. 8 As such, it had a right to be, and was, heard in the Chapter X reorganization proceeding. 11 U.S.C. § 606; Mosser v. Darrow,341 U.S. 267, 270-71, 71 S.Ct. 680, 95 L.Ed. 927 (1951). Nevertheless, we have not been referred to, nor have we found, any provision of the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, 15 U.S.C. §§ 77aaa Et seq., or any other federal statute, which would entitle Chemical Bank to have standing in the MDL securities litigation. 9 No case on this point has been located. 28 Chemical Bank argues that it is the representative and/or fiduciary of the 9 1/2% Debentureholders. However, its status as a representative of said debentureholders was only established as to the Chapter X proceeding. In the MDL securities litigation, the debentureholders were represented by court appointed class representatives and their counsel. Because it was not a member of the class of debentureholders, Chemical Bank could not be a representative in the class action. 10 3B Moore's Federal Practice P 23.04(2) at 23-122 (1978). Neither Chemical Bank nor any member of the 9 1/2% Debentureholder class ever objected to the court appointed class representatives or charged that there was a lack of adequate representation by the representatives. 29 Consequently, we agree with the MDL Court that Chemical Bank lacks standing to object to, or to appeal from the Plan of Allocation or its approval by the court below. Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 498-500, 95 S.Ct. 2197, 45 L.Ed.2d 343 (1975). However, the Individual Appellants, as debentureholders and members of the plaintiff class, clearly had standing to object for purposes of this appeal. We therefore now turn to their arguments.