Radzanower v. Touche Ross & Co.

Hyman Radzanower (plaintiff) brought a class action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging that First National Bank of Boston (the bank) (defendant) had failed to disclose adverse financial information about a customer to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and public investors. The bank was a national banking association with a principal office in Boston, Massachusetts. Radzanower alleged that venue was proper under the Securities Exchange Act, 15 U.S.C. § 78aa, which stated that any suit brought under the act could be brought in any district where a violation occurred, the defendant is found, or the defendant transacts business. The bank moved to dismiss the complaint, alleging that venue was governed by the National Bank Act, 12 U.S.C. § 94, an earlier-enacted statute, which prescribed that suits against a national banking association may be brought in the district in which the bank was established. The district court, following the settled law of the Second Circuit, held that a national bank can only be sued in the district in which the bank was established and granted the motion to dismiss. The Second Circuit affirmed the holding. Radzanower appealed to the United States Supreme Court, contending that a national bank loses the protections of § 94 if it is named as a defendant under the Securities Exchange Act.