Title 12, Banks and BankingRelease 119-102
§331 Certifying Checks on State Banks Admitted as Members
Title 12 › CHAPTER 3 — FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM › SUBCHAPTER VIII — STATE BANKS AS MEMBERS OF SYSTEM › § 331
Summary
Any officer, clerk, or agent must not certify a check unless the person or company who wrote it has the full amount on deposit when certified. A certified check binds the bank; wrongful certification can lead to loss of Federal Reserve membership after a Board of Governors hearing.
Full Legal Text
Title 12, §331
Banks and Banking, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
It shall be unlawful for any officer, clerk, or agent of any bank admitted to membership under authority of this subchapter, to certify any check drawn upon such bank unless the person or company drawing the check has on deposit therewith at the time such check is certified an amount of money equal to the amount specified in such check. Any check so certified by duly authorized officers shall be a good and valid obligation against such bank, but the act of any such officer, clerk, or agent in violation of this subchapter, may subject such bank to a forfeiture of its membership in the Federal reserve system upon hearing by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
References in Text
This subchapter, referred to in text, was in the original “this section”, meaning section 9 of act Dec. 23, 1913, which is classified generally to this subchapter (§ 321 et seq.). Codification Section is comprised of the fourteenth par. of section 9 of act Dec. 23, 1913, as amended. The fourteenth par. constituted the eleventh par. of section 9 in 1917 (40 Stat. 232), became the twelfth par. in 1927 (44 Stat. 1229), became the thirteenth par. in 1935 (49 Stat. 704), and became the fourteenth par. in 1950 (64 Stat. 458). For further details, see Codification notes set out under section 321 and 329a of this title.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Change of Name
section 203(a) of act Aug. 23, 1935, changed name of Federal Reserve Board to Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
12 U.S.C. § 331
Title 12, Banks and Banking
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102