There are many layers of protection for assets held at Plante Moran Trust:
Asset Safekeeping Location — Critical in the protection of trust assets is how and where they are held for safekeeping. First, all trust assets held by Plante Moran Trust as fiduciary are segregated from corporate assets. They are held in nominee name or in the name of the trust so they are easily distinguishable from the assets of the company and therefore not subject to taking in bankruptcy. Secondly, all stocks and bonds are held at Bank of New York, a recognized and highly capitalized custodian bank. Bank of New York also holds the assets in a segregated manner providing a further layer of protection. This is an important point, particularly in comparison to assets held by a broker. Bank of New York Trust & Custody is audited in accordance with SAS 70 standards1.
Mutual funds are held directly with each fund company and also in our nominee name as fiduciary.
Policies and Procedures — Procedures are the backbone of protection for any organization. All cash movements have dual control requirements built in. Today, most cash movements are done electronically and are controlled by requiring an initiator and a separate approver. Both have secure login ID’s and passwords and all system logs are monitored. Sales and purchases of securities are handled in a similar fashion with dual control requirements for each transaction.
Trust Accounting System — Plante Moran Trust employs a very sophisticated trust accounting system provided by SunGard Asset Management Systems. SunGard is integrated with the Bank of New York system to monitor and balance asset positions daily. Internal balance reports are compiled by our Operations team daily and reviewed and approved by management. The system provides audit reports which allow auditors and examiners to further review the accuracy of our work. SunGard Asset Management Systems is audited in accordance with SAS 70 standards1.
Examinations — Plante Moran Trust is a chartered trust-only bank. Our charter is granted by the State of Michigan which regularly and thoroughly examines the bank for adherence to Federal Regulations, state law and our own policies and procedures. Examination results are presented directly to the Board Audit Committee. The state also monitors the capital position of the bank and ensures that it is adequate at all times.
Audits — Trained and experienced trust auditors perform a variety of tests, inspections, verifications and account reviews for adherence to policies and regulations. Results of audits are reported directly to the Board Audit Committee.
Board of Directors — All trust activities are carried out in accordance to policies and procedures established and approved by the board. The board meets six times per year to carry out its oversight responsibilities, reviewing and approving all operational reports and any audits and exams performed during the period.
Insurance and Bond — Employees are bonded and the bank carries a regulatorily sufficient amount of trust errors and omissions liability insurance coverage.
Client Statements — The last and most important line of defense is the client statement, available in paper form or electronic. Client statements provide detail on all transactions applied to the account during the period and detail on all assets held in the trust. Information can also be obtained daily using our on-line system.
1 SAS 70 — Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 70, Service Organizations, is an internationally recognized auditing standard developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). A SAS 70 audit or service auditor's examination is widely recognized, because it represents that a service organization has been through an in-depth audit of their control activities, which generally include controls over information technology and related processes. In today's global economy, service organizations or service providers must demonstrate that they have adequate controls and safeguards when they host or process data belonging to their customers. In addition, the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 make SAS 70 audit reports even more important to the process of reporting on effective internal controls at service organizations. SAS 70 reports from both Bank of New York and SunGard Asset Management Systems are regularly reviewed by our Auditors and are available to any client upon request.