Comerica Inc v. Department of Treasury

Summary

The Michigan Supreme Court held that tax credits lawfully assigned to one bank subsidiary passed by operation of law to another subsidiary when the banks merged. The single-assignment provisions barred a subsequent assignment but did not bar an automatic statutory transfer under the Banking Code, and the negative-implication and strict-construction canons did not alter that conclusion. The Court therefore affirmed the Court of Appeals and held that the Department of Treasury improperly disallowed the credits.