when the bank is served a subpoeana, the bank is called the custodian of records. is the bank also a witness? i need to knwo this for my audit, thanks!

Just because the institution is considered customdian of record does not necessilarly mean they are also a witness. It is the basis of the request and not the request in general.

For example, if a bank receives a subpoena for certain records by the sourt for a divorce case, it will prtovide the records as the custodian of the records. If the attorney wish for the bank to testify to the ligitimacy of the records, then they would be considered a witness.

Back up a little - the Bank is not the custodian of records. A custodian of records is a designated person for a business that authenticates the business records being produced in response to the subpoena as being prepared in the ordinary course of business at or near the time of the events reflected in the documents.

A witness is a term normally used to describe a person who testifies at trial (the term "deponent" is used for persons who testify at a deposition). Attorneys use the term "custodian of records" to describe a "witness" who has no personal information about the records and merely is at court to authenticate the records. Attorneys use the term "witness" to describe a person who has personal knowledge about the records (e.g., they wrote the record or saw it being executed). Technically a custodian of records who testifies under oath is always a witness but not every witness is a custodian of records.