Collins v. First Union Nat. Bank

OPINION BY Senior Justice CHARLESS. RUSSELL.

This appeal presents the question whether a bank is liable to parties designated as beneficiaries of accounts set up for their benefit, using the term "For The Benefit Of ___" (FBO accounts), when the beneficiaries had not contracted with the bank and had no signatory authority over the accounts. The dispositive issues are whether the beneficiaries were "customers" of the bank as defined by the Uniform Commercial Code, Code § 8.4-104(a)(5), or whether the bank had otherwise assumed duties to protect their interests.

Background

In 1990, Congress…