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Sinclair v. Hawke

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Can a stockholder or assignee of the assets of a failed financial institution assert claims in a civil action against the Comptroller and other OCC personnel who made the decision to close the institution? In this case, the major stockholder claimed violations of his First and Fifth Amendment rights, his Federal civil rights and RICO.

Aggressive Regulators Are Not Racketeers -- The 8th Circuit U. S. Court of Appeals held that Congress had not authorized wide ranging judicial review in personal damage actions of regulators' motives regarding regulatory decisions that might have a chilling effect on their willingness to aggressively attack unsafe and unsound banking practices. In addition, the Court rejected allegations of RICO claims against OCC employees regarding the closing of a national bank and stated "bank regulators do not become racketeers by acting like aggressive regulators".

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