case no. 5. creditors of sandriÉ-vincourt v. the governing board of the paris brokers association. Sandrié-Vincourt, a licensed broker (agent de change) of the Paris Bourse (stock and bond market), ceased payments on his debts in 1823 after illegally trading on his own account, with the backing of a number of private lenders who were promised huge profits. The brokers' Governing Board (Chambre syndicale) stepped in to prevent legal proceedings, took control of Sandrié-Vincourt's assets, and began making what payments it could to his creditors. But Sandrié-Vincourt fled the country, and not long afterward, the Governing Board dropped its role in his affairs, forcing creditors to sue in the courts, with little hope of collecting. The creditors therefore sued the Governing Board as well as Sandrié-Vincourt, claiming that the Board had implicitly accepted liability for the bankrupt broker's debts. But the court ruled that the Governing Board, chartered by the state, did not represent, or engage the liability of, the members of the brokers' association, and was not itself a legal entity capable of incurring debts. The debates focused at times on this technical issue, at times on the feelings of betrayal of the creditors when the Board dropped its involvement in the affair, at times on the question of the honor of the Paris brokers' association, and at times on the morality of speculation. Dupin, arguing for the Board, denounced the calumnious charge of bad faith leveled by the creditors. They were nothing but usurers.