Anthony Teong-Chan Gaw as Transferee of Radcliffe Investment LTD. - Page 34

                                                 - 121 -                                                   
            the loans at issue to Radcliffe and to BOT that it had funded was                              
            attributable to a desire to accommodate petitioner.  In this                                   
            regard, the March 3, 1986 letter stated that Union Bank was                                    
            "pleased to have the opportunity to accommodate this valued Group                              
            customer [petitioner] and will entertain all reasonable                                        
            requests."                                                                                     
                  Based on our review of the entire record in these cases,                                 
            petitioner has failed to persuade us that the Bank transactions                                
            took the form they did because those transactions afforded the                                 
            U.S. banks in question an opportunity to earn a profit.88                                      
                  With respect to petitioner's second contention (viz., the                                
            U.S. banks in question preferred cash as collateral for loans                                  
            over tangible property located outside the United States because                               
            it would have been difficult for them to protect their security                                
            interest in and foreclose against such property),89 petitioner                                 

            88  Respondent contends that it is irrelevant whether the U.S.                                 
            banks in question earned or had an opportunity to earn a profit                                
            on the Bank transactions.  In view of our finding, we need not                                 
            decide whether respondent is correct.  We note, however, that the                              
            role of a person in a transaction has been ignored or recharac-                                
            terized even where that person was allowed to make a profit with                               
            respect to the transaction in which such person was involved.                                  
            See Estate of Weiskopf v. Commissioner, 64 T.C. 78, 96-98 (1975),                              
            affd. without published opinion 538 F.2d 317 (2d Cir. 1976); see                               
            also Davant v. Commissioner, 366 F.2d 874, 878, 881 (5th Cir.                                  
            1966), affg. in part, revg. in part on another issue South Texas                               
            Rice Warehouse Co. v. Commissioner, 43 T.C. 540 (1965); Blueberry                              
            Land Co. v. Commissioner, 361 F.2d 93, 98 (5th Cir. 1966), affg.                               
            42 T.C. 1137 (1964).                                                                           
            89  It is noteworthy that petitioner's contention appears to be                                
            at odds with his assertion on brief that Union Bank's security                                 
            interest in the cash deposits pledged by Pioneer and Mandalay                                  
            that secured the UB $1,300,000 loan was probably unenforceable                                 
            because the pledges of those deposits violated Hong Kong cor-                                  
                                                                            (continued...)                 


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