03/30/2009
Why is it that most banks that originate outgoing wire transfers require a physical address (no PO boxes) for the beneficiary? Is this a compliance requirement and if so, where is it established? I have looked at Reg J, the UCC, the BSA exam manual and the travel rule without much luck. The latter proved more helpful than the others, but still offered little justification for the requiring of the beneficiary's physical address. In this regard, the rule states that the originating bank is only required to retain "beneficiary information provided by the requestor" which may or may not include an address. Any help in determining how and/or why this no "PO box policy" was derived would be greatly appreciated.
03/16/2009
Does Reg D apply differently to MMAs than to personal savings accounts? I was told by a senior banker that personal savings accounts were not able to write or order checks. I know that we are able to order MMA checks, so I questioned her. She then stated that personal savings accounts are subject to different applications of Reg D. She stated that this was because MMAs have higher balance requirements so they are given the option of drafting checks. Is she correct?
02/16/2009
Are cash withdrawals made at a teller counter from a passbook savings account limited to six transactions under Reg D and if so, is exceeding the six withdrawal transaction limit a violation?
02/02/2009
What are the Reg D compliance considerations when customers are allowed to make more the six withdrawals from a savings account?
11/17/2008
I'm currently doing a Reg D and Q audit. What are the requirements for savings accounts that have excessive withdrawals every month? Are we supposed to close the savings account and convert it to a DDA or is it enough to send the letters and let them continue to make excessive withdrawals? My compliance officer says there is nothing we can do.
11/17/2008
I'm not sure if we have crossed any compliance or legal lines by allowing the following with regards to online banking access. A customer is both an officer and an authorized signer on a business account, either a corporation or LLC. This person also has a personal DDA account with the bank. The customer has applied for and been granted access to view his business account via our online banking product. The same customer also wants to view his personal account via online banking, but he does not want to have a separate access ID and password for the personal account. To honor the customer's request we have granted viewing privileges to both the business and personal DDA accounts under one access ID and password. Can you tell me if we have entered a gray area by doing this? Should the bank insist on keeping business and personal accounts separate in online banking by having different access IDs for both types of accounts?
10/27/2008
How are internal transfers such as loan payments paid from a MMA or savings account counted under Reg D? It is set up as an auto debit?
09/01/2008
When we monitor our customer's accounts for Reg D violations, can we use the check date on third party items as an indicator for violations? As an example, our customer wrote three checks in May. His third check didn't clear until his June statement which caused him to go over the limits in June. He had already written his three monthly checks for June, but didn't know that one of his May checks was still outstanding. His payee didn't deposit the check until June, so four ended up clearing for that 30 day period in June. He has no control over when his payee will deposit his check, but it puts his account in violation. As long as we treat every account the same way and verify every check date for transit items, would we be following Reg D?
09/01/2008
A customer has excessive savings account activity due to overdraft coverage to a DDA account. Are we required to close the account per Reg D after making the customer aware of withdrawal guidelines and continued excessive activity, or can the account remain open?
08/04/2008
We are beginning to delve into the Health Savings Account (HSA) market. We currently offer this account to employees only. Both employee and employer contributions are deposited directly into the HSA. We have linked a checking account to the HSA and issued both checks and a debit card for accessibility convenience. The checking account balance is always "zero $." When either a check or debit card purchase comes through it is memo posted to the checking and the exact amount of the transaction is electronically transferred from the HSA to the checking to cover the transaction. My question is, is the HSA held to the same withdrawal restrictions in this case as any other "savings" account under Reg. D (6 transfers)? This account is both a savings and an IRA...I have not been able to get a clear answer on this.