Authorized signers on a bank's own accounts

Answered by:

Question:

I'm looking for some insight on bank controlled internal accounts (i.e. cashier's checks, accounts payable, interest disbursements, etc). I need to perform account maintenance and add signers to the accounts. Are there any compliance regulations that can help steer me in the right direction as to who in our institution should be signers on these accounts? For our cashier's checks, we are not limited to bank officers, so any employee with signing authority can sign a check, but they do not have access to the accounts outside of that. There has been debate about who should be on the accounts and if it needs to be those who are reconciling or processing funds.

Answer:

I know of no compliance regulations dictating who is "eligible" to sign on internal accounts. One cardinal rule, however, is that your board should be approving any authorized signers. In most larger institutions, management makes recommendations concerning where the bank or CU needs, for example, signers on their Cashier's check account. Usually there are at least two at each branch office and several at larger offices. Personnel who reconcile the cashier's check account are usually not authorized to sign on the account.