Opinion ID: 393941
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Parties and Their Progenitors

Text: 4 Plaintiff BBI is a wholly-owned Edge Act 4 subsidiary of Boston, the assignor of the claims BBI asserts. Boston is a national banking association organized under the laws of the United States; its principal office is in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1923 Boston established a branch in Cuba, and in 1960 it had that branch and five sub-branches operating there. 5 The Branches were organized under 12 U.S.C. § 601 et seq. (1976) as unincorporated foreign branches of Boston and operated under Boston's name; the name on the Cuban offices was simply the Spanish equivalent of First National Bank of Boston, organized (or founded) in 1789. The Branches were capitalized by Boston's investment of $3,000,000 in the form of United States government bonds, which remained in the name of Boston; the interest earned on them was credited to the Branches. Branches had no president or board of directors. Their day-to-day operations were supervised by a Management Group, which hired all officers for the Cuban operations. The members of the Management Group were recommended by Boston. Branches kept their own books of record, paid Cuban taxes, and remitted their profits to Boston, which included these profits in their own annual reports and paid United States taxes on them. 6 Banco Nacional, as set forth in greater detail in Chase, supra, is the central bank of Cuba. It was organized in 1948 by the Republic of Cuba to operate as a separate and autonomous juridical entity. Prior to the revolution one-half of its stock was owned by the Cuban government (which appointed its president and three of its five directors), with the remaining one-half owned, as required by Cuban law, by the private banks operating in Cuba. Since prior to the Cuban revolution Banco Nacional has engaged in domestic and international banking, has been the sole depository of state funds, and has had extensive powers to control and protect the Cuban currency in international trade. Prior to October 13, 1960 it regulated all private commercial banks operating in Cuba. After that date there were no private banks, and Banco Nacional was wholly owned by the Cuban government.