Thursday 07 November 2013
The Commerce & Employment Department invited comments through a consultation from all interested parties about whether the Department should consider introducing legislation in relation to dormant bank accounts in Guernsey.
The conclusion was that dormant account legislation would be sensible only as long as there were sufficient funds available to make any scheme viable. A data gathering exercise by the GFSC demonstrated relatively low levels of funds in dormant accounts and once amounts were necessarily held back for administration costs and future claims the level would be substantially reduced. As a result the C&E Board concluded that these levels were not high enough to justify the legislation and scheme at this stage.
The Commerce and Employment Minister is grateful to those who have taken the time to consider the proposals and send in their comments and said:
"Although there was general support for a scheme to be introduced it was clear to the Department that it should only go ahead if there are sufficient funds available to justify such a scheme.
"The Department has concluded that, in light of the reduced and reducing amount of funds in dormant accounts, no further action in relation to this matter will be taken by the Department at this time.
The review of the consultation responses showed that there is a possibility that other unclaimed property could be part of a wider legislative scheme in the future and this will be reviewed."
This has also been discussed at the Finance Sector Group so the peak industry bodies in Guernsey are aware.
-ENDS-
