Matter of People (First Russian Ins. Co.)

Cardozo, Ch. J.

By an order of the Supreme Court made in August, 1925, the Superintendent of Insurance was directed to take possession of .any property in this State belonging to the First Russian Insurance Company, a Russian corporation, in order to conserve and liquidate its assets “ as the nature of the case and the interests of its policyholders, creditors, stockholders or the public may require ” (Insurance Law, § 63, subd. 4; Cons. Laws, ch. 28).

Before the entry of that order the respondent Fred S. James & Co., as assignee of a foreign creditor, a British corporation, had procured a…