Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title XXII Chapter 167
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 167, § 24 (2026)

Collection of moneys due and liquidation of affairs of banks in possession of commissioner

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 24. Upon taking possession of the property and business of such bank, the commissioner may collect moneys due to the bank and do all acts necessary to conserve its assets and business, and shall proceed to liquidate its affairs as hereinafter provided. Said commissioner shall collect all debts due and claims belonging to it, and upon the order or decree of the supreme judicial court, or any justice thereof, may sell or compound all bad or doubtful debts, and, on like order or decree, may sell for cash or other consideration or as provided by section thirty-eight of chapter one hundred and sixty-eight or section thirty-seven of chapter one hundred and seventy-two, all or any part of the real and personal property of the bank on such terms as the court shall direct, and, in the name of such bank, may take a mortgage on such real property from a bona fide purchaser to secure the whole or a part of the purchase price upon such terms and for such periods as the court shall direct. If, at any time after he has taken possession of the property and business of a bank under section twenty-two, the commissioner deems it necessary to enforce the individual liability of stockholders therein, as described in the first sentence of section twenty-eight of chapter one hundred and seventy-two, in order to pay the liabilities of such bank, said commissioner may file a bill in equity in the supreme judicial court against all persons who were stockholders therein at the time of such taking possession; but no such stockholder shall be liable to pay a larger sum than the amount of the par value of the stock held by him at the time of such taking possession. Such suit shall not abate by reason of the non-joinder of persons liable as respondents, unless the commissioner, after notice by plea or answer of their existence, unreasonably neglects to make them parties, nor shall it abate by reason of the death of a respondent but his estate shall be liable in the hands of his executor or administrator who may voluntarily appear, or who may be summoned by the commissioner to defend the suit.

The commissioner shall not sell for cash or other consideration or as provided by section thirty-eight of chapter one hundred and sixty-eight all or any part of the real or personal property of a savings bank in his possession without having first given to the Depositors Insurance Fund, and to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or to any successor to said corporations, respectively, reasonable opportunity, jointly or severally, to offer to purchase the same; and the commissioner shall, in any petition to the supreme judicial court filed by him seeking an order or decree directing the sale of any such property, certify that such reasonable opportunity has been so given and the amounts, if any, for which the Depositors Insurance Fund, or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or both, or any successor corporation thereto have expressed a willingness to purchase said property.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 12 cases, 1922–1943 · leading case: Comm'r of Banks v. Cosmopolitan Trust Co., 142 N.E. 100 (Mass. 1924).
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Comm'r of Banks v. Cosmopolitan Trust Co., 142 N.E. 100 (Mass. 1924). · cites it 4× “Demurrers have been filed by several of the defendants. Without stating in detail their grounds, they will appear as they are discussed.”
Comm'r of Banks v. Prudential Trust Co., 242 Mass. 78 (Mass. 1922). · cites it 3× “” These words are found without material change in G. L. c. 167, § 24. It is manifest that this as well as some other provisions of our banking law were taken without substantial change and in almost the same words from the national bank act.”
Cosmopolitan Trust Co. v. Cohen, 244 Mass. 128 (Mass. 1923). · cites it 2× “This is an action of contract by the commissioner of banks in possession of the Cosmopolitan Trust Company under G. L. c. 167, § 24, to recover an amount equivalent to the par value of the stock owned by the defendant in the trust company under G.”
Cosmopolitan Trust Co. v. Mitchell, 242 Mass. 95 (Mass. 1922). “G. L. c. 167, §§ 24 and 25. The liability of directors for neglect of their duties and for mismanagement of their corporation comes within the fair meaning of claims belonging to the corporation.”
Comm'r of Banks v. Tremont Trust Co., 156 N.E. 7 (Mass. 1927). “This is a suit by the commissioner of banks of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in possession of the property and business of the Tremont Trust Company, acting in pursuance of the authority conferred on him under G. L. c. 167, § 24, to charge the individual defendants as…”
Cosmopolitan Trust Co. v. Suffolk Knitting Mills, 143 N.E. 138 (Mass. 1924). “That right, although not conferred by the express words of the statute, arises by necessary implication from that clause of G. L. c. 167, § 24, authorizing the commissioner of banks in possession of a trust company for purposes of liquidation to enforce the liability of…”
Comm'r of Banks in re Cosmopolitan Trust Co., 249 Mass. 144 (Mass. 1924). “The single justice had power under G. L. c. 167, § 24, to order the decrees for the petitioner.”
Dir. of Liquidations v. Exch. Trust Co., 47 N.E.2d 296 (Mass. 1943). · cites it 2× “) G. L. c. 167, § 24, as amended. St. 1939, c.”
Cosmopolitan Trust Co. v. S. Vorenberg Co., 139 N.E. 482 (Mass. 1923). “G. L. c. 167, § 24. The check of . . . [the indorser] was drawn on an insolvent bank which was not meeting its obligations and whose affairs were in' liquidation.”
Comm'r of Banks v. Hanover Trust Co., 142 N.E. 105 (Mass. 1924). “The commissioner of banks in possession of the trust company brings this suit by virtue of the powers conferred upon him by G. L. c. 167, § 24. As to forms of remedy so far as applicable he must follow G.”
Cosmopolitan Trust Co. v. Lyons, 244 Mass. 115 (Mass. 1923). “G. L. c. 167, § 24. The check of Swartz was drawn on an insolvent bank which was not meeting its obligations and whose affairs were in liquidation.”
Comm'r of Banks, 181 N.E. 126 (Mass. 1932). “It is not necessary to consider questions that might have arisen touching G. L. c. 167, § 24, and its force and scope if Mabey had put himself in a position to present them.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.