Nike v. Wu: Amicus Brief

SUMMARY

The Banking Law Committee filed an amicus curiae brief in the Second Circuit in Nike v. Wu, in which it defended the “separate entity doctrine,” which protects non-US banks with branches in the US from US garnishment actions that would purport to reach their home offices and branches elsewhere in the world by virtue of that US branch presence. New York’s separate entity rule provides that even when a bank garnishee with a New York branch is subject to personal jurisdiction, its other branches are to be treated as separate entities for certain purposes, including pre-judgment attachments and post-judgment restraining notices and turnover orders. NY state and federal courts have upheld the rule for over a century, and it “is supported by numerous compelling rationales, including comity for international and state law, the need to guard against double liability, and the potentially enormous burdens on both banks and our court system associated with worldwide asset searches and post-judgment enforcement.”