Fidelity Bond.......Should a club have one?
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Fidelity Bond.......Should a club have one? Brittany asked, I recently attended a club accounting class and the topic of bonding the club treasurer came up. What exactly does that mean? (and how do we do that?) Also I've heard reference to the NAIC offering bond insurance to clubs... Would you recommend either? I have never heard of any case where a club member or treasurer has embezzled funds from their investment club, although I won't say that it could not happen. I think the chances of it happening are very small since most clubs don't have extremely large portfolios, since embezzlement would be easy to prove in such a situation, and since the criminal penalties for such acts are quite severe. On the other hand, if you are a member of an online club where the members don't know each other, and where you don't meet on a face to face basis, then you might be wise to consider a bond. Even before you consider a fidelity bond, a club should do its part to ensure that the treasurers' records are reviewed and checked for accuracy. An annual internal audit of the club books and the partnership tax return should be done by club members other than the treasurer each and every year. Each member should also do a reasonableness check of each monthly financial report to insure that the partnership records are being properly maintained. If you decide that a fidelity bond is appropriate for your club, NAIC does offer such a bond to its member clubs. For more information see... http://www.better-investing.org/store/fidbond.html Thanks for using bivio! Jerry Dressel St.Louis, Missouri Trez_Talk@bivio.com |
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