[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 12, Volume 2, Parts 200 to 219]
[Revised as of January 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 12CFR204.130]

[Page 118-119]
 
                       TITLE 12--BANKS AND BANKING
 
                   CHAPTER II--FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
 
PART 204--RESERVE REQUIREMENTS OF DEPOSITORY INSTITUTIONS (REGULATION D)--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 204.130  Eligibility for NOW accounts.

    (a) Summary. In response to many requests for rulings, the Board has 
determined to clarify the types of entities that may maintain NOW 
accounts at member banks.
    (b) Individuals. (1) Any individual may maintain a NOW account 
regardless of the purposes that the funds will serve. Thus, deposits of 
an individual used in his or her business including a sole proprietor or 
an individual doing business under a trade name is eligible to maintain 
a NOW account in the individual's name or in the ``DBA'' name. However, 
other entities organized or operated to make a profit such as 
corporations, partnerships, associations, business trusts, or other 
organizations may not maintain NOW accounts.
    (2) Pension funds, escrow accounts, security deposits, and other 
funds held under various agency agreements may also be classified as NOW 
accounts if the entire beneficial interest is held by individuals or 
other entities eligible to maintain NOW accounts directly. The Board 
believes that these accounts are

[[Page 119]]

similar in nature to trust accounts and should be accorded identical 
treatment. Therefore, such funds may be regarded as eligible for 
classification as NOW accounts.
    (c) Nonprofit organizations. (1) A nonprofit organization that is 
operated primarily for religious, philanthropic, charitable, 
educational, political or other similar purposes may maintain a NOW 
account. The Board regards the following kinds of organizations as 
eligible for NOW accounts under this standard if they are not operated 
for profit:
    (i) Organizations described in section 501(c)(3) through (13), and 
(19) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. (I.R.C. 1954) section 
501(c)(3) through (13) and (19));
    (ii) Political organizations described in section 527 of the 
Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. (I.R.C. 1954) section 527); and
    (iii) Homeowners and condominium owners associations described in 
section 528 of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. (I.R.C. 1954) 
section 528), including housing cooperative associations that perform 
similar functions.
    (2) All organizations that are operated for profit are not eligible 
to maintain NOW accounts at depository institutions.
    (3) The following types of organizations described in the cited 
provisions of the Internal Revenue Code are among those not eligible to 
maintain NOW accounts:
    (i) Credit unions and other mutual depository institutions described 
in section 501(c)(14) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. (I.R.C. 
1954) section 501(c)(14));
    (ii) Mutual insurance companies described in section 501(c)(15) of 
the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. (I.R.C. 1954) section 501(c)(15));
    (iii) Crop financing organizations described in section 501(c)(16) 
of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. (I.R.C. 1954) section 
501(c)(16));
    (iv) Organizations created to function as part of a qualified group 
legal services plan described in section 501(c)(20) of the Internal 
Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. (I.R.C. 1954) section 501(c)(20)); or
    (v) Farmers' cooperatives described in section 521 of the Internal 
Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. (I.R.C. 1954) section 521).
    (d) Governmental units. Governmental units are generally eligible to 
maintain NOW accounts at member banks. NOW accounts may consist of funds 
in which the entire beneficial interest is held by the United States, 
any State of the United States, county, municipality, or political 
subdivision thereof, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 
Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, any territory or possession of the 
United States, or any political subdivision thereof.
    (e) Funds held by a fiduciary. Under current provisions, funds held 
in a fiduciary capacity (either by an individual fiduciary or by a 
corporate fiduciary such as a bank trust department or a trustee in 
bankruptcy), including those awaiting distribution or investment, may be 
held in the form of NOW accounts if all of the beneficiaries are 
otherwise eligible to maintain NOW accounts. The Board believes that 
such a classification should continue since fiduciaries are required to 
invest even temporarily idle balances to the greatest extent feasible in 
order to responsibly carry out their fiduciary duties. The availability 
of NOW accounts provides a convenient vehicle for providing a short-term 
return on temporarily idle trust funds of beneficiaries eligible to 
maintain accounts in their own names.
    (f) Grandfather provision. In order to avoid unduly disrupting 
account relationships, a NOW account established at a member bank on or 
before August 31, 1981, that represents funds of a nonqualifying entity 
that previously qualified to maintain a NOW account may continue to be 
maintained in a NOW account.

[52 FR 47697, Dec. 16, 1987]