It's been awhile since I've worked in a branch so maybe things have changed. If the bank receives a check -obvious 401K/IRA account transfer- with the payee shown as "Our Bank IRA f/b/o named individual" is it ok to deposit that account into a business account titled "Whatever Retirement Planning" or something similar to this? In my day the check would be deposited into an IRA in the individual's name. I've seen this more than once recently and am concerned. I do work in bank compliance just not deposit compliance.

This would certainly appear to be either a direct rollover from a qualified plan or direct transfer from an IRA. In either case i don't understand why this would go into a business account. Doesn't make sense.

Unless a bank officer signed off on the check, it may likely come back for endorsement problems within the next year. I agree with NBK - this was likely destined as a direct roll-over and was not handled properly. This should have been deposited into an IRA and then if the customer wanted to transfer the money to "Whatever Retirement Planning", it should been processed appropriately as a rollover or distribution from the bank's IRA.

Thanks for responding. BTW Randy, a bank officer did endorse the check and then it was deposited into the business account! I think that the bank should have required the customer to open an IRA account!

I think this is an instance where the business account owner ("Whatever Retirement Planning") has to appropriately account for receiving the funds. I have seen this before. It is a direct rollover of the person's IRA, but he/she has chosen to invest it with "Whatever Retirement Planning" who will be the administrator. Since they are not a bank or a FI, they have a business account at a bank where such deposits can be made. The receive a deposit to benefit the investor and it's up to them to invest it properly into another IRA product (sounds like a brokered deposit deal to me). It's also up to the IRA owner to ensure that the rollover was done correctly. Everything is reported and the IRA money has to be deposited into another IRA within 60 days of the rollover. If it is not, the IRA owner will have to pay a LOT of taxes and penalties.

Thanks mauraga. That sounds logical to me. I appreciate all the responses. Thanks for taking time to respond.