Teller Talk – Legal Aspects of Handling Checks

Presented by Mary Beth Guard and John Burnett

Were you a teller? 

Do you remember how much there was to learn? 
Did you have times when you really weren't sure you knew the right way to handle a particular check?  
Did you sometimes feel you were in over your head?

Well-trained employees have higher job satisfaction because they feel confident they can competently handle their job responsibilities.   The teller line is the frontline of defense in the battle against check fraud and a host of other check-related losses, yet it is also often the area where turnover is the greatest.   Targeted training on check-handling can help.

This Webinar will help arm your tellers with essential information about the Uniform Commercial Code provisions that affect checks.   

Plain English.  Real-life scenarios and examples.  Solid suggestions.

BOL Gurus Mary Beth Guard and John Burnett discuss the laws that impact how checks are negotiated, and how handling checks the correct way can avoid potential losses for your institution.
 
In two fast-paced hours Mary Beth and John will discuss many of the situations your tellers face every day, and provide the legal framework for the choices they must make on behalf of your institution and its customers. They will learn:

• The minimum requirements of a check
• How to determine the amount for which a check is properly payable
• Who needs to endorse various types of checks and how they should do it
• Tips for spotting alterations and counterfeits
• What the different forms of endorsement are (blank, special, restrictive, anomalous), what they mean, and what should be used when
• How to identify the proper payee
• How to tell if a check with multiple payees is payable jointly, or payable alternatively
• How to spot a stale-dated check and what the consequences might be of accepting it
• How a postdated check should be handled
• How stop payments work
• Why special precautions should be taken when cashing checks for noncustomer payees
• Who is a "fiduciary" and when you would be on notice of breach of fiduciary duty
• What to watch out for in a split deposit transaction
• Things to watch out for with Powers of Attorney
• When it's appropriate for checks to be payable to your institution, and when it's not
• Whether it's ever a good idea to cash checks payable to businesses
• The challenges involved in accepting third-party checks
• How to identify foreign checks and what to do about them

VIEW A 10 MINUTE SAMPLE
(requires Windows Media Player and IE).

About the speakers:
Mary Beth Guard is currently Executive Editor of BankersOnline.com and CEO of Glia Group, Inc.  She speaks and writes frequently for financial industry groups.  From compliance to security, she has shared her expertise in seminars and schools across the country.

During a career spanning more than two decades, Mary Beth Guard previously practiced law as General Counsel for the Oklahoma State Banking Department, served as EVP, General Counsel and COO for the Oklahoma Bankers Association, and held the position of Executive Vice President of Specialized Services for Thomson Financial Publishing.    Mary Beth is on the Board of Advisors for the  Bankers’ Hotline newsletters , and she also serves on the faculty of the Graduate School of Banking at Colorado.   Mary Beth is also a BOL Guru.

John Burnett is a 1979 alumnus of the ABA National Compliance School, and has served on its faculty for several years. He graduated with honors with the Class of 1990 from ABA’s Stonier Graduate School of Banking. He is also a graduate of the BAI’s and the Massachusetts Banker Association’s Schools of Banking.

He joined Cape Cod Bank and Trust Company in 1971 and assumed his role as Compliance Officer in 1976. He also served as corporate secretary and secretary of CCBT’s Board of Directors, as well as Clerk of the bank’s holding company. After leaving the bank in 2004, John joined Glia Group, Inc. and became a part of the BOL Team in June, 2004.

Mr. Burnett is a member and former chair of the Massachusetts Bankers Association Legal and Regulatory Compliance Committee, and a former member of the American Bankers Association Compliance Executive Committee and NCS/NGCS Advisory Board. He served on ABA’s Truth in Savings Task Force, and has served on several ABA and Massachusetts Bankers seminar panels.