In an October 27, 2014 blog post, the National Bank Examiner highlighted the milestone of Venable’s recent victory on behalf of a North Carolina community bank. Last month, a federal judge ruled against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), applied the business judgment rule and granted summary judgment in favor of nine former directors and officers of the bank seized by the FDIC in 2009. The decision confirms the long standing principle that directors and officers who exercise their business judgment in making decisions, even if those decisions later turn out to be problematic, will not be held personally liable. The FDIC has appealed the ruling.
Citing an American Association of Bank Directors article on the ruling, National Bank Examiner noted “that the court did not find self-dealing, fraud, or any other conduct that might constitute bad faith. Moreover, the court found that the board of directors employed a rational decision-making process, even though (as in all bank decision-making) there clearly were risks involved.”
The bank was represented by a team of Venable attorneys including Tom Gilbertsen, David Goewey, who passed away in December 2013, Ron Glancz, Meredith Boylan, Michael Bracken, and Andrew Hernacki.
Citing an American Association of Bank Directors article on the ruling, National Bank Examiner noted “that the court did not find self-dealing, fraud, or any other conduct that might constitute bad faith. Moreover, the court found that the board of directors employed a rational decision-making process, even though (as in all bank decision-making) there clearly were risks involved.”
The bank was represented by a team of Venable attorneys including Tom Gilbertsen, David Goewey, who passed away in December 2013, Ron Glancz, Meredith Boylan, Michael Bracken, and Andrew Hernacki.