manxchatterbox Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 From MR web-site:- Government monitoring dormant bank account situation 30 May 2006 19:37:08 Questions were raised in the House of Keys again on Tuesday over the possibility of the Isle of Man government raising money from dormant bank accounts. Onchan MHK Peter Karran, asked Treasury Minister Alan Bell (pictured) whether he would consider using the cash involved to fund the public sector, rather than letting it sit unclaimed. A similar scheme is already in use in the Republic of Ireland, and the idea is being considered in the United Kingdom by Chancellor Gordon Brown. Mr Bell believes the issue is complex and not as easy to implement as generally thought. He told members he was monitoring the UK situation closely and would continue to keep the House informed: Attached audio ( - don't know how to link this !! ) My deja vu recalls that this subject was dealt with in depth on MR two years ago ...so why has it taken all this time for PK to get a question down and why has it taken all this time for Allan Bell to make a response..any good politicain would have bben pro-active and done something about it by now...unless of course they had some industry pressure brought to bear upon them suggesting it wasn't a good idea... even so in Ireland:- Last year, €40m of unclaimed cash from dormant accounts was recovered by the State and put into an anti-poverty programme, he said. A dormant account is officially an account to which money had not been added or removed since March 31, 1987 or earlier. The 2001 Dormant Accounts Act aims to reunite account holders of their next of kin with their cash in financial institutions. Under the Act, financial institutions have to contact the customer if he has not completed a transaction on the account in 15 years or more. If the institution cannot make contact within a specified period, the money is taken by the State. Funds in accounts that were not reclaimed by the end of March 2003 have already been transferred to a Dormant Accounts Fund. It was set up and managed by the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) and used for easing poverty and social exclusions. ...makes you wonder how much is stashed in IOM accounts / life policies that the Banks / Life Assurance Co's regard as dormant 'cos they can't trace the owners?? How much is there ? the relevant figures shopuld be published.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Observer Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 Hmmm.... Manx Radio. Good old Manx Radio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxchatterbox Posted June 5, 2006 Author Share Posted June 5, 2006 also what's with the fixation:- Allan Bell "told members he was monitoring the UK situation closely and would continue to keep the House informed" the Irish scheme is up and running so why not refer to that??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hboy Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 also what's with the fixation:- Allan Bell "told members he was monitoring the UK situation closely and would continue to keep the House informed" the Irish scheme is up and running so why not refer to that??? There is of course the totally rational business case that states that when you do this sort of thing as a government, its sort of admitting that you're desparate for cash and that does not fit well with the Islands image as a quality finance centre. Tynwald is right to stand off at this stage as it just makes you look like Gordon Brown - desperate to screw every last penny out of the system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebees Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 How do they class an account as dormant? Do they mean dead peoples accounts, or like, if someone had emmigrated and forgotten about their bank account? Seems like a good idea but likes Hboy says it does smart of desperation.... I remembered the thing about Quasi too, it is how sub-atomic particles behave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxchatterbox Posted June 6, 2006 Author Share Posted June 6, 2006 1) A dormant account is officially an account to which money had not been added or removed since March 31, 1987 or earlier. 2) The 2001 Dormant Accounts Act aims to reunite account holders of their next of kin with their cash in financial institutions. 3) Under the Act, financial institutions have to contact the customer if he has not completed a transaction on the account in 15 years or more. and then ONLY If the institution cannot make contact within a specified period, the money is taken by the State and in Ireland is to be used for easing poverty and social exclusions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxchatterbox Posted July 11, 2006 Author Share Posted July 11, 2006 Reported in the FT to-day:- Charity plan for dormant bank funds By Peter Thal Larsen, Banking Editor Ambitious plans for a new financial institution to take over and invest the hundreds of millions of pounds lying unclaimed in British bank and building society accounts will be set out tomorrow in a Treasury-sponsored report. The Commission on Unclaimed Assets, set up earlier this year by some of Britain's largest charities with the support of the Treasury, is to recommend the creation of a "social investment bank" to help finance charitable and voluntary projects by providing seed capital and loan guarantees. The proposal, to be set out in a report published tomorrow, is designed to extract the greatest financial impact from the cash lying unclaimed in dormant accounts. It is a key part ofthe government's long-running effort to force banks to release the funds and put them to better use. for full article link:- http://www.ft.com/cms/s/cff7172a-1078-11db...00779e2340.html So why is it taking the IOM Govt so long to do something...theyv'e done it and got a working scheme in Ireland already....is it that the institutions are leaning on Treasury and lobbying against having to do anything 'cos they want to keep the dosh for themselves?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladys Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 Most banks find dormant accounts more of a nuisance than a nice little money pot. They can't be touched and used as the bank's assets (although they will form part of the liquidity ratio, but will still be a very small part of the overall), but have to be maintained and reported to the relevant financial authority. Does anyone know how much may be lying in dormant accounts on the Island? Many of them will possibly pre-date the current banking boom, so the amounts involved may not be that high. It would be good to see the money put to some social use, but I do think banks would like to have a solid, possibly statutory procedure which will release them from any liability if the funds are released should the owner ever turn up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxchatterbox Posted July 11, 2006 Author Share Posted July 11, 2006 I used to work in the Nat West in the late 70's and remember a current account with £50 grand in it that was dormant then.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilDDog Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 Another old thread resurrected. Yawn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojomonkey Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 I used to work in the Nat West in the late 70's and remember a current account with £50 grand in it that was dormant then.... From that I take it that your DOB on your profile (14/2/70) isn't the truth, unless you were working for Nat West aged 9? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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