The FNM Government has tabled legislation to take dormant account funds, after 17 years, and place them in a disaster relief fund.

While this is a good idea, why not ensure everything possible has been done to track down the owners and/or potential heirs?

Here's a synopsis from the Ministry of Finance web site:

15 FACTS ON "DORMANT ACCOUNT DRAFT AMENDMENTS”

What's New? Dormant account legislation updated and modernized, as government foreshadows creation of Disaster Relief Fund

1. Dormant account regulations are changing to set a 17-year time limit to claim deposited funds left untouched and unclaimed for years

2. The government is establishing provisions to use deposits from long-standing dormant accounts in a Disaster Relief Fund after those claims are extinguished.

3. Deposits in dormant accounts that remain unclaimed for a total period of 17 years will now be transferred to the Government for use in the Disaster Relief Fund.

4. Jurisdictions such as Australia, Barbados, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the United States maintain a more strict time limit of seven years

5. All account holders can still claim their deposits in dormant accounts using the standard channels within the 17-year time limit.

6. Commercial banks and the Central Bank are still responsible for holding and administering those funds until they are claimed by the depositors or their estate.

7. The cost to manage deposits for people who are not using their accounts and not claiming their money is impractical and financially burdensome on the entire financial system.

8. The amendments allow for better overall administration of the dormant account regime and bring greater clarity to the definition of dormancy.

9. Legislation on dormant accounts has not changed since 1989 even though the need to update and modernize has been well established.

10. The draft legislation was initially circulated for consultation in 2014 in response to weaknesses and challenges identified by the banking sector.

11. As of end-June 2018, there were 42,452 dormant accounts valued at $88.7 million (Bahamian Dollar equivalent), of which $41.3 million had been held in dormant status for 17 years or more.

12. Nearly $70 million of the $88.7 million in dormant accounts comes from offshore foreign currency accounts.

13. Most of 42,452 dormant accounts are Bahamian dollar accounts, but they only represent 21.3% of the total value. The majority of them are valued at $500 or less.

14. Funds will not be used for ordinary government expenses. They will be invested in the planned Disaster Relief Fund, previously announced in the Government’s fiscal strategy.

What do you think?