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Correspondent or Respondent

Correspondent

A Correspondent is a financial institution: (1) that has authorized a Reserve Bank to settle Debit and Credit Transaction Activity to its Master Account for a Respondent or for any financial institution for which the Respondent acts as Correspondent; or (2) that maintains required reserve balances for one or more financial institutions in its Master Account.

Respondent

A Respondent is: (1) a financial institution that settles Debit and Credit Transaction Activity for some or all of its Reserve Bank transactions in the Master Account of a Correspondent; or (2) a financial institution that maintains its required reserve balances in the Master Account of a Correspondent.

To establish a Correspondent/Respondent settlement relationship, both the Correspondent and the Respondent must complete a “Transaction and Service Fee Settlement Authorization” form (OC 1 Appendix 2).

If you are a Correspondent and have an account with the Federal Reserve Banks, you may elect to complete the forms noted on the Master Account page. If you are the Respondent and do not have an account with the Federal Reserve, you are eligible to establish additional services by completing the following Accounting Services forms:

  • Form 1 – Daily Statement of Account and Monthly Statement of Service Charges Delivery Options
  • Form 4B – Delivery Profile for Intra-Day Premium Services
  • Form 6 – Affiliate Access for Account Management Information (AMI) Service
  • Form 7 – Request for Fedwire® Details via the Search Feature in the Account Management Information (AMI) Application

Please refer to the Accounting Information Services (AIS) Subscription Instructions to determine services available for Respondents.

Pass-through Reserves

A pass-through relationship allows a Respondent to hold its required reserve balances with a Correspondent. A balance in the Correspondent’s Master Account represents a liability of the Reserve Bank solely to the Correspondent, regardless of whether the funds represent the reserve balances of another financial institution that have been passed through the Correspondent, and is subject to the Correspondent’s order.

To establish a pass-through relationship, both the Correspondent and the Respondent must complete a “Pass-Through Agreement” (OC 1 Appendix 3). Each executed Pass-Through Agreement is subject to approval by the ARB of the Correspondent. A Reserve Bank may terminate any pass-through relationship in which the Correspondent is deficient in its record keeping or other responsibilities.

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