A 7696: Prohibits a bank or trust company from charging a service charge or requiring a minimum balance for attorney trust or IOLA accounts that are non-interest bearing in nature; defines attorney trust account.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7696 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY April 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. WALKER -- read once and referred to the Committee on Banks AN ACT to amend the banking law, in relation to attorney trust accounts The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The banking law is amended by adding a new section 9-e to 2 read as follows: 3 § 9-e. Attorney trust accounts. Notwithstanding any other provision of 4 law or rule or regulation to the contrary, no bank or trust company 5 regulated by the state of New York shall charge a service fee or require 6 a minimum balance on an attorney trust account, provided that no more 7 than fifteen debit or credit transactions per month are made in 8 connection with such account and provided, further, that such attorney 9 trust account is non-interest bearing or is an IOLA (interest on lawyer 10 accounts) account. For the purposes of this section, an attorney trust 11 account shall mean a special banking or checking account required by law 12 or a rule of court for the deposit of funds belonging to law clients or 13 other persons in the practice of law. 14 § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 15 have become a law. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD06873-01-5