The purpose of this section of the NBA Compliance Handbook is to set forth both state and federal record retention schedules and other legal issues for a financial institution to consider in either reviewing its record retention policy or records retention schedules. Most financial institutions have both the desire and commitment to manage information and records effectively, and to comply with established law, regulation or “best banking practice.”
The benefits of an established records retention program translate into:
Records are becoming available in a variety of formats, but may generally be categorized as either manually or electronically produced. The articles within this section provide information on the distinction between original records and reproductions, including what records need to be retained, in what manner and for how long.
Because records are a vital resource for a financial institution in providing services to its customers, in establishing records of information essential to rendering financial services and for defending against fraud and abuse claims or maintaining actions of recovery, all recorded information is only useful when and if it is correctly recorded, regularly updated and easily accessible when needed.
While records held by financial institutions should be properly managed and available, there may also be legal or regulatory requirements that some records be held for prescribed periods of time. The state and federal requirements related to banking are contained in separate articles under this section of the Handbook.
A record retention schedule only serves as a guide to minimum time periods for records to be retained. Some records may be automatically destroyed after a prescribed period while other records, because of their nature, will be reviewed at intervals and may require additional periods of time for retention purposes. The record retention law or regulation may also give details as to how these records will be disposed of (at the end of their retention period or other legal limitation period) and how they should be stored. The retention schedule should be periodically reviewed to add new forms of records, delete old types of records or amend previous retention periods for legal or other reasons.