PNC Bank has been hit with $15 million of punitive damages because Allegiant Bank did not know its client.

Before opening a fiduciary account, banks are required to perform due diligence on the trust’s grantor and on the trust’s purposes.   Such due diligence is referred to as ‘know your client’ or “KYC”.  KYC requirements had

Tax Code Section 685 has now been law for 21 years, and this marks our 20th year of preparing the Qualified Funeral Trust return.  (And more specifically, the composite QFT return)  The QFT return was meant to simplify income reporting for a trust that has hundreds, or even thousands, of contract beneficiaries.  Yet, we

A recent order issued by the Federal Court trying the NPS civil suit referenced a mirror trust employed by the defendant bank (12-31-14 Order – Comerica MSJ ).  To facilitate the trading of investment securities, a brokerage account is established with a firm that can administer the transactions more efficiently than the fiduciary institution.   

It is common for master preneed trusts to have investments directed by an independent fund manager.  The pooling of smaller trusts allows funeral directors to achieve the critical mass needed to engage professional asset management.  When investment functions are delegated, the trustee typically wants to be relieved of the supervision and liabilities that accompany those