State ex rel. Burke v. Citizens' Bank

Citations

• 51 La. Ann. 426
• 25 So. 318
• 1899 La. LEXIS 415

Syllabus

<p>Syllabus.</p> <p>A shareholder, or other person with a laudable object to accomplish, or a real and actual interest upon which to predicate his request for information dis closed by the books of a bank, is given by the fundamental law, the right to-Inspect them.</p> <p>The claim, that the right of inspection is strictly personal to the shareholder, and can not be exercised by another for him, and in his stead, as an agent or executor, is without force; for, if that were true, the possession of the right would be futile in many instances.</p> <p>A by-law of a corporation which provides, that no stockholder or other person shall have the right to inspect the books without special authority from the board of directors, must be subordinated to the provisions of the charter and the general and fundamental law.</p> <p>On Reiieaiung.</p> <p>While, in a proper case, an accountant or expert may be appointed by the-court to assist a party in interest in the examination, the law gives him the right to make of the books of a bank or other corporation, no part of the compensation to be paid such expert should be assessed against the defend- : ant bank or corporation.</p>