Internal Control Questionnaires and Verification Procedures

Safe Deposit Boxes

1. Has bank counsel reviewed and approved the lease contract which covers the rental, use, and termination of safe deposit boxes?

2. Is a signed lease contract on file for each safe deposit box in use?

3. Has a standard fee schedule for this service been adopted?

4. Are receipts for keys to the safe deposit box obtained?

5. Are officers or employees of the bank prohibited from having access to safe deposit boxes except their own or one rented in the name of a member of their family?

6. Is the guard key to safe deposit boxes maintained under absolute bank control?

7. Does the bank refuse to hold any safe deposit box keys for customers renting such boxes?

8. Is each admittance slip signed in the presence of the safe deposit clerk and the time and date of entry noted?

9. Are admittance slips filed numerically?

10. Are vault records noted for joint tenancies and co-rental contracts requiring the presence of two or more persons at each access?

11. Are the safe deposit boxes locked, the renter’s key removed and returned to the customer, and the guard key removed while permitting access to the contents?

12. Is the safe deposit clerk prohibited from assisting the customer in looking through the contents of a box?

13. Does the safe deposit clerk participate in the relocking of the box to make sure the number of the box corresponds to that of the one that was opened?

14. Are all coupon booths examined by an attendant after being used but before being assigned to another renter, to be sure the previous person did not leave behind anything of value?

15. Are all collections of rental income recorded when received?

16. Are all safe deposit boxes in which the lessee is delinquent in rent, flagged or otherwise marked so that access will be withheld until the rent is paid?

17. Does the procedure manual or policy address collection activity and appropriate corrective action in the case of default, e.g., when bank management can open the box?

18. Is there a file maintained of all attachments, notices of bankruptcy, letters of guardianship, and letters testamentary (court-issued authority empowering a person named an executor in a will to act in that capacity) served on the bank? Are affected safe deposit boxes flagged?

19. Is an acknowledgment of receipt of all property and a release of liability signed upon termination of occupancy?

20. Are locks changed when boxes are surrendered, whether or not keys are lost?

21. Do two individuals witness drilling of boxes?

22. Are the contents of drilled boxes inventoried, packaged, and placed under dual control?

23. Are all extra locks and keys maintained under dual control?

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