Inactive accounts bill urged

The Finance Ministry is pushing a draft bill on managing bank accounts that have been inactive for at least 10 years.

When it comes into force, the law will allow banks to close the dormant accounts and transfer the money to an account managed by the Comptroller-General’s Department.

The bill, drafted by the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO), is due for public hearings soon. There is no mechanism to handle dormant accounts at commercial banks and specialised financial institutions, examine money in these accounts or use the money in any capacity.

Bank accounts, according to the bill, consist of savings and current accounts of both local and foreign residents. However, time-deposit accounts, deposit accounts opened for debt repayment to financial institutions, those frozen pending legal cases, and accounts as specified by ministerial announcements would not be included in the bill.

The bill requires financial institutions to check the information of account owners that will soon be classified as dormant accounts three months before the end of every year, and inform them or their heirs to close the inactive accounts within a specified period.

If account owners and their heirs do not close the accounts, financial institutions will be permitted to close the dormant accounts and transfer money to the Comptroller-General’s Department accounts that will be opened for this purpose, before being sent to the Treasury reserve.

However, account owners and heirs can request the money be returned by the department, the FPO said. Financial institutions do not need to include money parked in dormant accounts to calculate deposit contributions.