Opinion ID: 6984369
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: FDIC Regulations

Text: FDIC regulations regarding the definition of administrative expenses in § 1821(d)(ll) also support this conclusion. Agency interpretations of this sort deserve significant deference. See Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 844, 104 S.Ct. 2778, 81 L.Ed.2d 694 (1984) (courts have “long recognized that considerable weight should be accorded to an executive department’s construction of a statutory scheme it is entrusted to administer”) (footnote omitted); Thomas Jefferson Univ. v. Shalala, 512 U.S. 504, 512, 114 S.Ct. 2381, 129 L.Ed.2d 405 (1994) (agency’s interpretation of its own regulations must also be given “substantial deference” and is to be disregarded only if “it is plainly erroneous or inconsistent with the regulation”) (citation omitted) (internal quotation marks omitted). Under § 1821(d)(ll)’s distribution priority, the receiver’s administrative expenses are paid ahead of all other claims. See § 1821(d)(ll)(A)(i). In 1993, the FDIC promulgated an interim rule, which was fully adopted in 1995 as 12 C.F.R. § 360.4 (1999), that defines “administrative expenses” as including “those necessary expenses incurred by the receiver in liquidating ... a failed insured depository institution. Such expenses shall include pre-failure and post-failure obligations that the receiver determines are necessary and appropriate to facilitate the smooth and orderly liquidation or other resolution of the institution.” Significantly, the FDIC noted in its discussion of the interim rule that administrative expenses “[generally ... do not include expenses such as severance pay claims, golden parachute claims and claims arising from contract repudiations.” 58 Fed. Reg. 43,069, 43,070 (1993). Thus, the FDIC interpreted § 1821(d)(ll)’s priority scheme as including claims for damages arising from contract repudiation under § 1821(e), but not entitled to the same priority as administrative claims.