First National City Bank v. Banco Para El Comercio Exterior De Cuba

Decided June 17, 1983. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 81-984 · 462 U.S. 611 (1983) · Cited 608 times

Holding

Under principles of equity common to international law and federal common law, petitioner may apply the claimed setoff, notwithstanding the fact that respondent was established as a separate juridical entity.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• National City Bank of NY v. Republic of China · 348 U.S. 356 (1955)
• Anderson v. Abbott · 321 U.S. 349 (1944)
• Verlinden B. v. v. Central Bank of Nigeria · 461 U.S. 480 (1983)
• New York v. United States · 326 U.S. 572 (1946)
• Banco Nacional De Cuba v. Sabbatino · 376 U.S. 398 (1964)
• Bangor Punta Operations, Inc. v. Bangor & Aroostook Railroad · 417 U.S. 703 (1974)
• First National City Bank v. Banco Nacional De Cuba · 406 U.S. 759 (1972)
• Cort v. Ash · 422 U.S. 66 (1975)
• Pepper v. Litton · 308 U.S. 295 (1939)
• Boyd's Lessee v. Graves · 17 U.S. 513 (1819)
• Keifer & Keifer v. Reconstruction Finance Corp. · 306 U.S. 381 (1939)
• The Paquete Habana · 175 U.S. 677 (1899)
• Taylor v. Standard Gas & Electric Co. · 306 U.S. 307 (1939)
• US Bank v. PLANTERS'BANK · 22 U.S. 904 (1824)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Deena Artware, Inc. · 361 U.S. 398 (1960)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Powerex Corp. v. Reliant Energy Services, Inc. · 551 U.S. 224 (2007)
• Bank Markazi v. Peterson · 578 U.S. 212 (2016)
• Cassirer v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation · 596 U.S. 107 (2022)
• Saudi Arabia v. Nelson · 507 U.S. 349 (1993)
• Dole Food Co. v. Patrickson · 538 U.S. 468 (2003)
• Biden v. Nebraska · 600 U.S. 477 (2023)
• Hertz Corp. v. Friend · 559 U.S. 77 (2010)
• Illinois v. Andreas · 463 U.S. 765 (1983)
• Samantar v. Yousuf · 560 U.S. 305 (2010)
• Sanchez-Llamas v. Oregon · 548 U.S. 331 (2006)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1983). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).