d. After bankruptcy and either before adjudication or before a receiver takes possession of the property of the bankrupt, whichever first occurs

(1) A transfer of any of the property of the bankrupt, other than real estate, made to a person acting in good faith shall be valid against the trustee if made for a present fair equivalent value or, if not made for a present fair equivalent value, then to the extent of the present consideration actually paid therefor, for which amount the transferee shall have a lien upon the property so transferred; (2) A person indebted to the bankrupt or holding property of the bankrupt may, if acting in good faith, pay such indebtedness or deliver such property, or any part thereof, to the bankrupt or upon his order, with the same effect as if the bankruptcy were not pending; (3) A person having actual knowledge of such pending bankruptcy shall be deemed not to act in good faith unless he has reasonable cause to believe that the petition in bankruptcy is not well founded; (4) The provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subdivision shall not apply where a receiver or trustee appointed by a United States or State court is in possession of all or the greater portion of the nonexempt property of the bankrupt; (5) A person asserting the validity of a transfer under this subdivision shall have the burden of proof. Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision and in subdivision g of section 21 of this Act, no transfer by or in behalf of the bankrupt after the date of bankruptcy shall be valid against the trustee: Provided, however, That nothing in this Act shall impair the negotiability of currency or negotiable instruments.

Added by the Chandler Act (1938). This new subsection is necessary because of uncertainty whether bona fide transactions for adequate present value after bankruptcy could be protected in the face of repeated judicial declarations that the filing of a petition in bankruptcy is "a caveat to all the world, and in effect an attachment and injunction." In practice the proposition was applied to cases where the property had been withheld from the trustee without color of right. Mueller v. Nugent, 184 U.S. 1, 14, 22 S. Ct. 269, 46 L.Ed. 405 (1902); May v. Henderson, 268 U.S. 111, 117, 45 S.Ct. 456, 69 L.Ed. 870 (1925). The courts had plugged the gap in section 67f by needlessly broad language, e. g., see In re Kolin, 134 F. 557, 560 (C.C.A.7th, 1905): In re R. and W. Skirt Co., 222 F. 256 (C.C.A.2d, 1915). A consistent application of the doctrine of lis pendens would be hard on a purchaser for full value without notice. Bona fide payments had been protected. Frederick v. Fidelity Ins. Co., 256 U.S. 395, 41 S.Ct. 503, 65 L.Ed. 1009 (1921). Payments by banks on bankrupt's checks after petition, Citizens Union Nat. Bank v. Johnson, 286 F. 527 (C.C.A.6th, 1923), and cash sales, In re Perpall, 271 F. 466 (C.C.A.2d, 1921), had also been protected, but no consistent theory of protected transactions was evolved.

See Lake v. New York Life Ins. Co., 218 F.2d 394 (C.A.4th, 1955).

e. (1) A transfer made or suffered or obligation incurred by a debtor adjudged a bankrupt under this Act which, under any

Federal or State law applicable thereto, is fraudulent as against or voidable for any other reason by any creditor of the debtor, having a claim provable under this Act, shall be null and void as against the trustee of such debtor.

(2) All property of the debtor affected by any such transfer shall be and remain a part of his assets and estate, discharged and released from such transfer and shall pass to, and every such transfer or obligation shall be avoided by, the trustee for the benefit of the estate: Provided, however, That the court may on due notice order such transfer or obligation to be preserved for the benefit of the estate and in such event the trustee shall succeed to and may enforce the rights of such transferee or obligee. The trustee shall reclaim and recover such property or collect its value from and avoid such transfer or obligation against whoever may hold or have received it, except a person as to whom the transfer or obligation specified in paragraph (1) of this subdivision e is valid under applicable Federal or State laws.

(3) For the purpose of such recovery or of the avoidance of such transfer or obligation, where plenary proceedings are necessary, any State court which would have had jurisdiction if bankruptcy had not intervened and any court of bankruptcy shall have concurrent jurisdiction.

The proviso in (2) was inserted by the Act of July 7, 1952, P.L. 456, 82d Cong., 2d Sess., § 23(f), to authorize preserving a transfer for the benefit of an estate, as provided in section 60 and section 67. Otherwise the subdivision stands as amended by the Chandler Act (1938). This subdivision formerly read: "e. The trustee may avoid any transfer by the bankrupt of his property which any creditor of such bankrupt might have avoided, and may recover the property so transferred, or its value, from the person to whom it was transferred, unless he was a bona fide holder for value prior to the date of the adjudication. Such property may be recovered or its value collected from whoever may have received it, except a bona fide holder for value. For the purpose of such recovery any court of bankruptcy as hereinbefore defined, and any State court which would have had jurisdiction if bankruptcy had not intervened, shall have concurrent jurisdiction." The first two sentences came from the origina' act. The last sentence was added by the amendment of 1903.

(1) now incorporates part of section 67e as it stood before 1938. The language "or voidable for any other reason" combines the former sections 67a and 70e.

(2) was derived in 1938 from old sections 67e and 70e.

(3) corresponds to the last sentence in former section 70e. The references to the avoidance of such transfer or obligation and to the need of plenary proceedings were added.

f. The court shall appoint a competent and disinterested appraiser and upon cause shown may appoint additional appraisers, who shall appraise all the items of real and personal property belonging to the bankrupt estate and who shall prepare and file

with the court their report thereof. Real and personal property shall, when practicable, be sold subject to the approval of the court. It shall not be sold otherwise than subject to the approval of the court for less than 75 per centum of its appraised value. Whenever any sale of real or personal property of any bankrupt is made by or through any auctioneer employed by the court, receiver, or trustee, such auctioneer, if an individual or a partnership, shall be a bona-fide resident and citizen of the judicial district in which the property to be sold is situated, or, if a corporation, shall be lawfully domesticated and authorized to transact such business in the State in which said judicial district is located.

As Revised by the Chandler Act (1938). This was originally section 70b. The first sentence was inserted and the following dropped: "All real and personal property belonging to bankrupt estates shall be appraised by three disinterested appraisers; they shall be appointed by, and report to, the court." The last sentence was also added. It represents political insistence on local patronage. The National Bankruptcy Conference has voted to ask for its repeal.

Concerning restriction on sale of corporate stock, see In re Trilling & Montague, 140 F.Supp. 260 (E.D.Pa., 1956).

For relief of purchaser on void sale, see Mesirow v. Duggan, 240 F.2d 751 (C.A.8th, 1957).

g. The title to property of a bankrupt estate which has been sold, as herein provided, shall be conveyed to the purchaser by the trustee.

This appeared in the Act of 1898 as subdivision c. The Chandler Act (1938) contained a subdivision 70h which was a revision of section 70d of the Act of 1898. The subject matter of the trustee's title is now covered by sections 381, 486 and 669, which were enacted in connection with the repeal of subdivision h and of subdivision 64b by the Act of July 7, 1952, P.L. 456, 82d Cong., 2d Sess., § 23(g).

i. Upon the confirmation of an arrangement or plan, or at such later time as may be provided by the arrangement or plan, or in the order confirming the arrangement or plan, the title to the property dealt with shall revest in the bankrupt or debtor, or vest in such other person as may be provided by the arrangement or plan or in the order confirming the arrangement or plan.

As enacted by the Chandler Act (1938). Section 70% of the Act of 1898 provided: "Upon the confirmation of a composition offered by a bankrupt, the title to his property shall thereupon revest in him."

Sec. 71. (11 U.S.C. § 111.) Clerks' Indexes; Certificates of Search; Dockets

The clerks of the several district courts of the United States shall prepare and keep in their respective offices complete and convenient indexes of all proceedings and discharges under this Act heretofore or hereafter filed in the said courts and shall, when requested so to do, issue certificates of search certifying as to whether or not any such proceedings or discharges have been filed. The clerks shall be entitled to receive for such certificates the same fees as may be allowed by law for certificates as to judgments in such courts. Such indexes and dockets shall at all times be open to inspection and examination by all persons without any fee or charge therefor.

Added by the amendment of 1903 and amended in form by the Chandler Act (1938). In view of the language of Chapters XI to XIII, discharges "under the Act" are now referred to instead of discharges "in bankruptcy". Other obvious changes in form have been made.

The reference to judgment certificates was made more flexible in 1938.

Sec. 72. (11 U.S.C. § 112.) Limitation of Compensation of Officers of Court

No receiver, marshal, or trustee shall in any form or guise receive, nor shall the court allow him, any other or further compensation for his services as required by this Act, than that expressly authorized and prescribed in this Act.

No referee shall receive any compensation for his services under this Act other than his salary; and allowances made to a referee for compensation or expense while acting as a conciliation commissioner under section 75, or as a referee or special master under any chapter or section of this Act, shall be paid to the clerk, and by him transmitted to the Treasury of the United States for deposit in the referees' salary fund and referees' expense fund, respectively.

As Amended by the Referees' Salary Act 1946. The first paragraph was introduced by the Amendment of 1903 with reference to the referee and the trustee. The Amendment of 1910 included the receiver and marshal. These provisions limited compensation without qualification, but the Chandler Act (1938) restricted the limit to services "required by this Act." The Referees' Salary Act omitted "referee" from this paragraph, covering that subject explicitly in the added paragraph.

Chapter VIII

PROVISIONS FOR THE RELIEF OF DEBTORS

Sections 73 and 74 (11 U.S.C. 88 201, 202) as amended, have been incorporated into chapters XI, XII, and XIII.

Sec. 75. (11 U.S.C. § 203.) Agricultural Compositions and

Extensions

(a) Conciliation commissioners; appointment; qualifications; term of office.-Every United States district court of bankruptcy shall appoint not more than twenty persons in any one district to be known as 'conciliation commissioners'. One such commissioner shall be appointed from each division or for the territory served by the city where terms of court are held. The court shall designate the territorial district of each such commissioner. A conciliation commissioner's term of office shall be two years, but he may be removed by the court if his services are no longer needed or for other cause. No individual shall be eligible to appointment as a conciliation commissioner unless he is eligible for appointment as referee and in addition is a resident of the district, familiar with agricultural conditions therein and not engaged in the farm-mortgage business, the business of financing farmers or transactions in agricultural commodities or the business of marketing or dealing in agricultural commodities or of furnishing agricultural supplies. In each judicial district the court may, if it finds it necessary or desirable, appoint a suitable person as a supervising conciliation commissioner. The supervising conciliation commissioner shall have such supervisory functions under this section as the court may by order specify.

As Amended by the Act of March 11, 1944, section 1, 58 Stat. 113. The first three sentences previously read: "Courts of bankruptcy are authorized, upon petition of at least fifteen farmers within any county who certify that they intend to file petitions under this section, to appoint for such county one or more referees to be known as conciliation commissioners, or to designate for service in such county a conciliation commissioner previously appointed for an adjacent county. In case more than one conciliation commissioner is appointed for a county, each commissioner shall act separately and shall have such territorial jurisdiction within the county as the court shall specify. A conciliation commissioner shall have a term of office of one year and may be removed by the court if his services are no longer needed or for other cause." In the sentence following "or for other cause" the requirement as to resident of the "district" formerly read "county."

(b) Fee on filing petition; compensation and fees of conciliation commissioners; general orders to govern office of commissioner. Upon filing of any petition by a farmer under this section there shall be paid a fee of $25 to be transmitted to the clerk of the