Under applicable Internal Revenue Service regulations, banks may act as custodians for IRAs, and bank-offered custodial IRAs provide consumers throughout the nation with a convenient and economical way to buy and sell securities for retirement purposes on a tax-deferred basis.
Banks, as part of their customary banking activities and as an accommodation to their customers, also have long permitted customers that hold securities in custody accounts at the bank to buy and sell securities related to the account. These services allow customers to avoid the unnecessary expense of having to establish a separate securities account at a broker-dealer to effect such trades.