Marvin K. Woods v. The Bank of New York, and the 44 Wall Street Fund, Inc.

CARDAMONE, Circuit Judge:

Involved in this appeal is a narrow but important issue affecting investment law: does a bank servicing shareholders as a transfer agent for a mutual fund have a duty to read and act upon directions written on the memorandum portion of a check? Opinions authored by Judges Holmes, Cardozo, and Hand — whose views we will consider in a moment — have answered in the negative a similar question where a bank acts in its ordinary commercial capacity. But the trial court reasoned that the rationale of those cases did not apply in this case. We disagree with the district…