Cite as: 519 U. S. 213 (1997)
Opinion of the Court
direction of the Corporation . . . acting as conservator or receiver . . . for gross negligence, including any similar conduct or conduct that demonstrates a greater disregard of a duty of care (than gross negligence) including intentional tortious conduct, as such terms are defined and determined under applicable State law. Nothing in this paragraph shall impair or affect any right of the Corporation under other applicable law." 12 U. S. C. § 1821(k) (emphasis added).
Lower courts have taken different positions about whether this statute, in stating that directors and officers "may be held personally liable" for conduct that amounts to "gross negligence" or worse, immunizes them from liability for conduct that is less culpable than gross negligence such as simple negligence. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation v. McSweeney, 976 F. 2d 532, 537, n. 5 (CA9 1992), cert. denied, 508 U. S. 950 (1993); Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation v. Canfield, 967 F. 2d 443, 446, n. 3 (CA10) (en banc), cert. dism'd, 506 U. S. 993 (1992); Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation v. Swager, 773 F. Supp. 1244 (Minn. 1991). See also Pet. for Cert. i ("The questions presented for review are: 1. Whether Section 1821(k) supplants 'federal common law' and constitutes the exclusive standard of liability in a civil damage action brought by the Resolution Trust Corporation . . ."); Brief for American Bankers Association et al. as Amici Curiae 7-8.
In our view, the statute's "gross negligence" standard provides only a floor—a guarantee that officers and directors must meet at least a gross negligence standard. It does not stand in the way of a stricter standard that the laws of some States provide.
For one thing, the language of the statute contains a saving clause that, read literally, preserves the applicability of stricter state standards. It says "[n]othing in this paragraph shall impair or affect any right of the Corporation under other applicable law." 12 U. S. C. § 1821(k) (emphasis
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