Industry guideline: Responding to requests from a power of attorney or court-appointed administrator

Responding to requests from a power of attorney or court-appointed administrator. This industry guideline:

• Explains how financial powers of attorney and court-appointed administrator arrangements apply to banks’ relationships with their customers, and
• Outlines a framework that banks can use to consistently manage requests from attorneys and administrators.

The ABA encourages members to use this guideline to set internal processes, procedures, and policies. While powers of attorney arrangements are an important tool for protecting a customer’s future financial circumstances, some attorneys may misuse this power, either inadvertently or deliberately. Banks have an important role to play in establishing that attorneys are properly authorised to undertake transactions on behalf of their principal. A power of attorney is a legal document that gives someone (called an ‘attorney’) the power to act on behalf of, and in the interests of, the person who grants that power (the ‘principal’) during the principal’s lifetime.

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