Opinion
Argued February term 1943.
Decided April 30th, 1943.
A trustee may on its own account, in the course of litigation seeking discovery and an accounting, purchase with the leave of the court, securities, the legality of which has been questioned.
On appeal from the Court of Chancery.
Mr. Aquila N. Venino, for the complainant-appellant.
Messrs. Hood, Lafferty Emerson ( Mr. Charles Danzig), for Fidelity Union Trust Co.
The complainant charges mismanagement of a trust estate of which she is beneficiary. She seeks discovery and an accounting. The trustee, in the meantime, secured an order from the Court of Chancery permitting it to purchase for cash for full value certain questioned securities.
It is clear from the opinion of the learned Vice-Chancellor that all questions to be settled in the litigation remain open, even the question of interest and the rate thereof. The only thing accomplished by the order was to improve the trust estate by substituting legals for securities in doubt, and in no way does it end the litigation.
The order appealed from so modified is affirmed. For modification — THE CHIEF-JUSTICE, PARKER, CASE, BODINE, DONGES, HEHER, PERSKIE, PORTER, WELLS, RAFFERTY, JJ. 10.