Yes, we believe you may open the escrow accounts without requiring the TIN of your customer’s clients. The Customer Identification Program (CIP) rules require the customer’s TIN. Through interagency guidance, the federal banking regulators have clarified that the person establishing the escrow account is the customer for CIP purposes. Consequently, we believe it is appropriate to accept the business customer’s TIN to open the accounts.

In addition, for deposit insurance purposes, we believe that you should title the accounts in a way to indicate the agency nature of your customer’s relationship with its clients. Typically, multiple accounts of the same business customer are added together for the purposes of establishing maximum FDIC insurance coverage. However, when a business is acting as an agent (or in some other fiduciary capacity) for its clients — and that relationship is clearly established in the deposit account records — then each individual account is entitled to separate insurance coverage. An express indication of the fiduciary relationship generally is not necessary when the account title sufficiently demonstrates the nature of the relationship, such as in the way you described. Regardless of how you title the account, though, the evidence of deposit ownership must be “clear and unambiguous” in order for each account to receive separate deposit insurance coverage.

In addition, we are not aware of any law or regulation that would prohibit you from executing one master signature card to cover all of the separate escrow accounts. For business customers, the FFIEC’s BSA/AML Examination Manual recommends that you obtain a corporate resolution authorizing the account opening or appointing a person to act as a signatory on the account. Whether you want to accept one resolution and one signature card for all of the accounts is a business decision for your institution to make.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• FinCEN CIP Regulations, 31 CFR 1020.220(a)(2)(i) (“The CIP must contain procedures for opening an account that specify the identifying information that will be obtained from each customer. Except as permitted by paragraphs (a)(2)(i)(B) and (C) of this section, the bank must obtain, at a minimum, the following information from the customer prior to opening an account: (1) Name; (2) Date of birth, for an individual; (3) Address . . .; and (4) Identification number. . .”)

• Interagency FAQs, Customer Identification Program Rule (April 28, 2005), printed page 7 (“10. Who is the ‘customer’ for purposes of escrow accounts? An escrow account is an account generally established for the deposit of funds that are to be paid to a specified party on the fulfillment of escrow conditions or returned. If a bank establishes an account in the name of a third party, such as a real estate agent, who is acting as escrow agent, then the bank’s customer will be the escrow agent. . . . ‘A bank will not be required to look through trust, escrow, or similar accounts to verify the identities of beneficiaries and instead will only be required to verify the identity of the named accountholder.’ See 68 FR 25090, 25094 (May 9, 2003). . . .”)

• FDIC Deposit Insurance Coverage Rules, 12 CFR 330.11 (“The deposit accounts of a corporation engaged in any ‘independent activity’ (as defined in § 330.1(g)) shall be added together and insured up to the SMDIA in the aggregate.”)

• FDIC Deposit Insurance Coverage Rules, 12 CFR 330.5(b) (“The FDIC will recognize a claim for insurance coverage based on a fiduciary relationship only if the relationship is expressly disclosed, by way of specific references, in the ‘deposit account records’ … of the insured depository institution. Such relationships include, but are not limited to, relationships involving a trustee, agent, nominee, guardian, executor or custodian pursuant to which funds are deposited. The express indication that the account is held in a fiduciary capacity will not be necessary, however, in instances where the FDIC determines, in its sole discretion, that the titling of the deposit account and the underlying deposit account records sufficiently indicate the existence of a fiduciary relationship. This exception may apply, for example, where the deposit account title or records indicate that the account is held by an escrow agent, title company or a company whose business is to hold deposits and securities for others.”)

• FDIC Deposit Insurance Coverage Rules, 12 CFR 330.5(a) (“Evidence of deposit ownership. . . . If the FDIC, in its sole discretion, determines that the deposit account records of the insured depository institution are clear and unambiguous, those records shall be considered binding on the depositor, and the FDIC shall consider no other records on the manner in which the funds are owned. . . .”)

• FDIC Deposit Insurance Coverage Rules, 12 CFR 330.1(e) (“Deposit account records means account ledgers, signature cards, certificates of deposit, passbooks, corporate resolutions authorizing accounts in the possession of the insured depository institution and other books and records of the insured depository institution, including records maintained by computer, which relate to the insured depository institution's deposit taking function, but does not mean account statements, deposit slips, items deposited or cancelled checks.”)

• FDIC-88-81  (Opining that if a bank “maintains records (in good faith and in the regular course of business) which show the name and ownership interest of each property owner in the account” then separate property management accounts would be insured up to the maximum amount for each property owner.)

• FFIEC BSA/AML Examination Manual, Business Entities (Domestic and Foreign) — Overview (For a business account, “required account opening information may include articles of incorporation, a corporate resolution by the directors authorizing the opening of the account, or the appointment of a person to act as a signatory for the entity on the account.”)