The Federal Reserve Board requested comment this week on proposed guidelines for evaluating joint account requests at Federal Reserve banks.
The joint accounts are meant to be used by depository institutions to assist in settlement.
Under normal circumstances, each eligible depository institution may only have a single master account. Federal Reserve Banks have opened joint accounts on two occasions for use by multiple depository institutions. An agent manages these accounts on behalf of the institutions. The two existing joint accounts have been long-standing, the latest of which was opened 15 years ago.
Joint accounts for depository institutions are not a standard option. However, the Federal Reserve Board is expecting a rise in interest in these joint accounts due to ongoing efforts to improve the U.S. payment system, such as the Federal Reserve Board’s and Federal Reserve Banks’ Strategies for Improving the U.S. Payment System efforts.
The proposed guidelines would aid in evaluating requests for joint accounts by eligible parties, which would be considered on a case-by-case basis. Under the proposed guidelines, each account holder must meet legal requirements for having a Federal Reserve account, the arrangement must have a thorough legal and operational foundation for its payment system and the account must not cause excessive risk to the Federal Reserve or overall payment system.
The Federal Reserve Board has published the proposal in the Federal Register and is accepting comments on all aspects of the proposal for 60 days after its publication.