What guidelines or banking code stipulations are there regarding an audit of safekeeping of bank assets such as collateral on loans, trust, etc.

Generally, I will test to determine:
a. there is dual control
b. the existence of a log of safekeeping/trust/loan collateral items
c. that access to the physical items and the log is limited to only those who require it
d. that someone independent of the function perform a periodic audit of the contents (at least annually), including sampling items in the vault/safe deposit box for proper recording on the log and sampling of items on the log for existence in the vault/safe deposit box
e. that there is some documentation of who each item belongs to (customer name, loan #, trust account #, etc.)
f. that there is some acknowledgment by the customer as to what is being held, such as a signed receipt, and finally,
g. that proof of payoff (in the case of a loan) is reviewed prior to release and that a signature is obtained from the customer when an item is released.

Hope that helps!