Final Guidelines for Evaluating Joint Account Requests

Under the Federal Reserve Act (FRA), the Federal Reserve Banks (Reserve Banks) have the authority to open accounts for member banks and other eligible depository institutions (collectively, depository institutions). The Reserve Banks routinely open and maintain individual Federal Reserve accounts for eligible institutions. Joint accounts-- those where the rights and liabilities are shared among multiple depository institution account-holders--have not in the past been available as a standard account option, but in limited cases the Reserve Banks have opened such accounts for specific purposes. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) has approved final guidelines for evaluating requests for joint accounts at Reserve Banks intended to facilitate settlement between and among depository institutions participating in private-sector payment systems (private- sector arrangements). The guidelines broadly outline factors that will be considered in evaluating such requests, but are not intended to provide assurance that any specific arrangement would be granted a joint account. Requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, with the type and extent of information necessary to evaluate a particular request likely dependent on the complexity of the arrangement.