United States District Court Southern District of New York
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Case 1:15-cv-01236-PAE Document 23 Filed 05/27/15 Page 1 of 45 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK SECURITIES INVESTOR PROTECTION CORPORATION, Plaintiff, v. BERNARD L. MADOFF INVESTMENT SECURITIES LLC, Defendant. Adv. Pro. No. 08-01789 (SMB) In re: BERNARD L. MADOFF, SIPA LIQUIDATION Debtor. (Substantively consolidated) AARON BLECKER, et al., Appellants, v. Case No. 15 CV 1236 (PAE) IRVING H. PICARD, Trustee for the Liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, Appellee. DIANA MELTON TRUST, Appellant, Case No. 15 CV 1151 (PAE) v. IRVING H. PICARD, Trustee for the Liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, Appellee. Case 1:15-cv-01236-PAE Document 23 Filed 05/27/15 Page 2 of 45 EDWARD A. ZRAICK, JR., et al., Appellants, Case No. 15 CV 1195 (PAE) v. IRVING H. PICARD, Trustee for the Liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, Appellee. ELLIOT G. SAGOR, Appellant, v. Case No. 15 CV 1263 (PAE) IRVING H. PICARD, Trustee for the Liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, Appellee. MICHAEL C. MOST, Appellant, v. Case No. 15 CV 1223 (PAE) IRVING H. PICARD, Trustee for the Liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, Appellee. BRIEF OF APPELLEE IRVING H. PICARD, TRUSTEE, IN SUPPORT OF ORDER AFFIRMING TRUSTEE’S METHODOLOGY FOR INTER-ACCOUNT TRANSFERS Case 1:15-cv-01236-PAE Document 23 Filed 05/27/15 Page 3 of 45 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PRELIMINARY STATEMENT .....................................................................................................1 QUESTIONS PRESENTED ............................................................................................................3 COUNTERSTATEMENT OF FACTS ...........................................................................................4 A. The SIPA Liquidation Proceeding ...............................................................4 B. The Claims Procedure Order and the Claims Process .................................4 C. Customer Property and Net Equity Under SIPA .........................................5 D. The Net Investment Method Litigation ........................................................6 E. Inter-Account Transfers ...............................................................................9 F. Antecedent Debt Decision Applies Net Equity to Inter-Account Transfers ....................................................................................................10 G. Litigation of the Inter-Account Transfer Issue Before the Bankruptcy Court .......................................................................................12 ARGUMENT .................................................................................................................................15 I. THE TRUSTEE’S METHODOLOGY IS CONSISTENT WITH APPLICABLE LAW .............................................................................................15 A. The Inter-Account Method is Mandated by the Net Equity Decision .....................................................................................................15 B. The Antecedent Debt Decision Remains Relevant Precedent ...................18 C. The Trustee’s Methodology is Consistent with SIPA ................................19 II. THE INTER-ACCOUNT METHOD DOES NOT IMPLICATE FRAUDULENT TRANSFER LAW .....................................................................20 A. There Has Been No Due Process Deprivation ...........................................22 B. The Change in Corporate Form of BLMIS Is Irrelevant to the Method for Calculating Inter-Account Transfers ......................................23 C. New York Policy Governing Finality in Business Transactions is Not Relevant ..............................................................................................26 III. THE INTER-ACCOUNT METHOD DOES NOT VIOLATE ERISA .................28 -i- Case 1:15-cv-01236-PAE Document 23 Filed 05/27/15 Page 4 of 45 TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page IV. FACT-BASED ISSUES WERE BEYOND THE SCOPE OF THE PROCEEDINGS BELOW AND NEED NOT BE DETERMINED BY THIS COURT AS NO FINAL RULING WAS ISSUED ...............................................31 V. CERTAIN AMICUS ARGUMENTS ARE IMPROPER ......................................32 CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................................................36 -ii- Case 1:15-cv-01236-PAE Document 23 Filed 05/27/15 Page 5 of 45 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Page(s) Cases Andochick v. Byrd, 709 F.3d 296 (4th Cir. 2013) ...................................................................................................29 Auto. Club of N. Y., Inc. v. The Port Authority of N. Y. and N. J., 2011 WL 5865296 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 22, 2011) ...................................................................33, 35 Banque Worms v. BankAmerica Int’l, 77 N.Y.2d 362 (1991) ..............................................................................................................27 Banque Worms v. BankAmerica Int’l, 928 F.2d 538 (2d Cir. 1991).....................................................................................................27 Bayou Accredited Fund, LLC v. Redwood Growth Partners, L.P. (In re Bayou Group, LLC), 396 B.R. 810, aff’d in part & rev’d in part, 439 B.R. 284 (S.D.N.Y. 2010) .....................11, 27 In re Bernard L. Madoff, 496 B.R. 744 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2013) .......................................................................................8 In re Bernard L. Madoff, 515 B.R. 161 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2014) .......................................................................................5 In re Bernard L. Madoff Inv. Sec. LLC 424 B.R. 122 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2010) .......................................................................4, 7, 15, 16 In re Bernard L. Madoff Inv. Sec. LLC, 654 F.3d (2d Cir. 2011) reh’g and reh’g en banc den. (2d Cir. Nov. 8, 2011), cert dismissed, 132 S. Ct. 2712, cert. den., 133 S. Ct. 25, 133 S. Ct. 24 (2012) ............. passim In re Bernard L. Madoff Inv. Sec. LLC, 779 F.3d 74 (2d Cir. 2015)...............................................................................................8, 9, 16 BNP Paribas Mortg. Corp. v. Bank of Am., N.A., No. 09-9783, 2013 WL 6484727 (S.D.N.Y. December 9, 2013) ............................................27 Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 134 S. Ct. 2751 (2014) .............................................................................................................33 Butner v. United States, 440 U.S. 48 (1979) ...................................................................................................................34 Chicago Title Ins. Co. v. Eynard, 84 Misc. 2d 605 (1st Dept. 1975) ............................................................................................27 -iii- Case 1:15-cv-01236-PAE Document 23 Filed 05/27/15 Page 6 of 45 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES (continued) Page(s) Christian Bros. High Sch. Endowment v. Bayou No Leverage Fund, LLC (In re Bayou Group, LLC), 439 B.R. 284 (S.D.N.Y. 2010) ...........................................................................................12, 18 Commodities Future Trading Comm’n v. Walsh, 17 N.Y. 3d 162 (2011) .............................................................................................................27 Cunningham v. Brown, 265 U.S. 1 (1924) .......................................................................................................................2 Diaz v. Paterson, 547 F.3d 88 (2d Cir. 2008).......................................................................................................23 Donnell v. Kowell, 533 F.3d 762 (9th Cir. 2008) .............................................................................................17, 22 Fed. Treasury Enter. Sojuzplodoimport v. SPI Spirits Ltd., 726 F.3d 62 (2d Cir. 2013).......................................................................................................33 First Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass’n of Lincon v. Bevill, Bresler & Schulman, Inc. (In re Bevill, Bresler & Schulman, Inc.), 59 B.R. 353 (D. N.J. 1986), appeal dismissed, 802 F.2d 445 (3d Cir. 1986) ..........................26 In re Francisco, 204 B.R. 799 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. 1996) ....................................................................................30 In re Goodchild, 160 Misc. 738 (N.Y. Sur. Ct. 1936) .........................................................................................27 Guidry v. Sheet Metal Workers Nat. Pension Fund, 493 U.S. 365 (1990) ...........................................................................................................29, 31 Estate of Kensinger v. URL Pharma, Inc., 674 F.3d 131 (3d Cir. 2012).....................................................................................................29 Kickham Hanley P.C. v. Kodak Retirement Income Plan, 558 F.3d 204 (2d Cir. 2009).....................................................................................................29 Kusch v. Mishkin (In re Adler, Coleman Clearing Corp.), No. 95-08203 (JLG), 1998 WL 551972 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Aug. 24, 1998), aff’d, 208 F.3d 202 (2d Cir. 2000) ...........................................................................................17 In re Madoff, 848 F.Supp.2d 469 (S.D.N.Y. 2012), aff’d 740 F.3d 81 (2d Cir. 2014) ..................................28 -iv- Case 1:15-cv-01236-PAE Document 23 Filed 05/27/15 Page 7 of 45 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES (continued) Page(s) In re MF Global Holdings Ltd.,