Unclaimed assets within the financial system

Book excerpt: Between £400 to £500 million is currently held in dormant bank and building society accounts in the UK where, for whatever reason, a financial institution has lost contact with an account holder. A large proportion of this money will never be reclaimed by its rightful owner. The Government, working with the banking industry, has therefore proposed the establishment of an unclaimed assets scheme to put these dormant accounts to productive use whilst continuing to recognise the ongoing rights of customers to reclaim their accounts at any stage. The Committee's report examines the proposed legislative framework for the scheme and its regulation, how to define and identify dormant accounts, the scope of the scheme, the proposed scheme to reunify customers with dormant accounts, a centralised national register for unclaimed assets, dormant accounts in building societies, the distribution of funds released from unclaimed assets, funding of a Social Investment Bank and local disbursement options.