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FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF NEW YORK T Circular No. 779, April 1, 19271 Accounting Department |_Reference to Circulars No. 729 and No. 737J CURRENCY, SECURITIES AND OTHER VALUABLES Mail Shipments Cannot Be Insured Unless Registered To all Member Banks, State Banks and Trust Companies in the Second Federal Reserve District: Our attention has recently been called to two losses of currency suffered by banking institutions because of failure on their part to see that the currency was dispatched hy registered mail. Both losses resulted from more or less similar circumstances which briefly were as follows: It had been the practice of the shipping banks to send all mail to the post office without assorting the registered from the ordinary mail, with an understanding that the postmaster would see to it that the shipments including valuables would be registered and the registered receipts subsequently placed in the bank's mail box. In one instance a temporary helper in the post office, who was not aware of the arrangement, received the mail and dispatched all of it as ordinary mail. In the other instance the postmaster, who as a rule handled the mail himself, happened at the time the mail was deposited to be otherwise engaged, so that the mail was taken in by an employee who also was unaware of the arrangement and permitted all of the mail to be dispatched without registration of the valuable pieces. In each of these instances a shipment of money failed to reach its destination and, by reason of the failure to register, of course could not be traced. These two losses, both of which have occurred within a short time, suggest to us the advisability of calling the attention of the banks in this district to the importance of registering all valuable shipments which are to be insured. The provisions covering such shipments to this bank or its Buffalo Branch are set forth in our Circular No. 729 entitled "Insurance of Shipments of Currency, Coin and Securities" and also referred to in our Circular No. 737 entitled "Shipments of Paper Currency, Coin and Bullion." Our policies for registered mail insurance do not and cannot cover any mail shipment unless it is actually registered. Under no circumstances can a shipment be insured when sent by ordinary mail. In view of the losses that have occurred it is suggested that you review the procedure of your bank in making shipments by registered mail so that there may be no possibility of loss from this cause. Very truly yours, BENJ. STRONG, Governor.
@FedFRASER