Where Does New York State Get the Power To Seize Signature Bank?
14th March 2023
Ira Stoll is not afraid to ask the hard questions.
Where in the world did the government of New York get the power to take Signature Bank away from the bank’s shareholders and from the management who had worked for years to build it into the formidable institution that it was?
It’s hardly an academic question. The Fifth Amendment of the Constitution states that no person shall be “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
The constitution of New York state has similar language: “private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation.” Yet depriving the bank shareholders of their property — without due process and without just compensation — appears to be precisely what Governor Hochul did in respect of Signature Bank.