How we check funds and banks

Fed Invest Check is an independent tool, not an official Federal Reserve resource. Every answer comes from a fixed set of rules and lists, not from an AI guessing. This page explains where those lists come from.

Funds

• We go by the prospectus. The Federal Reserve's FAQ says you may rely on a fund's prospectus. We read each fund's current summary prospectus and record its stated policy on concentrating in one industry, country, state or asset.
• The name doesn't decide. A fund called "Innovation" or "Dividend" is judged by what its prospectus says it does, following the federal government's definitions of diversified and sector funds and the Office of Government Ethics' guidance on themed funds.
• Each fund gets one category: diversified, sector fund, financial-sector fund, Treasury fund, commodity, crypto, real estate or derivatives-based. That category plus your role sets the answer.
• Close calls go to your ethics office. If a prospectus leaves real doubt, we show "Ask your ethics office first" instead of guessing.
• What's covered: about 120 funds, including the most commonly held index funds, the financial-sector funds and the funds the Fed's FAQ names, each with the prospectus link and date we used. For any other fund, we ask what it holds and show you how to check the prospectus yourself.

Banks and their owners

• We match every company listed on the NYSE and Nasdaq against FDIC records of insured banks and their parent companies, then confirm the less obvious ones in the companies' own SEC filings.
• The list covers about 370 companies, including foreign banks and non-bank companies that own a bank, such as Charles Schwab and Toyota. Where the rules don't clearly cover a company, the answer is "Ask your ethics office first."
• Small banks that trade over the counter and private banks aren't on the list. For those, we ask whether the company is or owns a bank, and link to the FDIC's BankFind search.

What we can't see

Some rules depend on internal lists and individual decisions we don't have, such as waivers, a supervision assignment, or the Board's internal list of savings and loan holding companies. Those answers always say "Ask your ethics office first."

Updates and corrections

• Every fund and bank on our lists shows the date it was last checked. Bank ownership is rechecked each quarter when the FDIC posts new data, and funds when their prospectuses update.
• Spot a mistake? Use "Report a problem" on any result card.

Screening guidance only, not an official Federal Reserve determination. Your ethics office makes the final decision, including any preclearance your role requires.