Wire Transfers And Garnishment

LexisNexis (August 22, 2019, 10:18 AM EDT) -- If B gets a judgment against A for a debt, it is clear that B can garnish A’s deposit account. But can B garnish funds being transferred to A before they land in A’s account? In particular, can B garnish an intermediary bank that is moving funds from originator to beneficiary as part of a wire transfer? State law, in the form of the UCC, does not allow garnishment of an intermediary bank. Until recently, federal admiralty law, as construed by a 2002 decision from the Second Circuit, allowed such garnishments. This decision generated much litigation and controversy, particularly in New York. Then, on October 16, 2009, the Second Circuit overruled its older decision. Now the UCC rule prohibiting intermediary bank garnishments governs all transactions....