Posted on Monday, 10th October 2011 by Keane Unclaimed Property Team

L-R, Val Jundt, Keane Managing Director Consulting & Advisory Services with Frederick Stollsteimer, Director of Unclaimed Property and Lindsay Caldonetti, Holder Compliance Specialist for the Commonwealth of PA

With the regulatory landscape constantly changing and evolving, unclaimed property compliance reporting is becoming more complex than ever for businesses and financial institutions. In order to keep businesses aware of these changes and to ensure that they are knowledgeable about the reporting process, Keane partnered with the Pennsylvania Treasury Department to host an Unclaimed Property Compliance Forum at the Courtyard Marriott in Philadelphia.

The forum, led by Valerie M. Jundt, Managing Director of Keane’s National Consulting & Advisory Services group and representatives from the Pennsylvania Treasury Department’s Bureau of Unclaimed Property, focused on unclaimed property compliance requirements and regulatory updates with additional emphasis on businesses incorporated in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. Topics covered in the forum included new laws impacting 2011-2012 compliance reporting, current trends in multi-state audits, industry-specific hot-buttons, best practices for tracking and reuniting owners with their funds, implementing sufficient policies and procedures, and reporting requirements and compliance challenges unique to Pennsylvania.

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Posted on Thursday, 15th September 2011 by Keane Unclaimed Property Team

The following is the second part of our two part piece about unclaimed property audits and the Oil & Gas Industry. View the first part here

Oil & Gas Industry Factors

In addition to the common red flags listed in the previous article, there are some risk factors specific to the oil and gas industry — specifically with mineral proceeds, suspense accounts and credit balances.

Mineral Proceeds

The payment of mineral proceeds provides very unique challenges related to unclaimed property. For example, the large volume and small dollar amounts for some royalty payments can make them hard to track and more likely to go unclaimed. Additionally, many states have special rules around reporting unclaimed royalties. For example, in excess of 20 states have some form of a current pay rule, which generally requires payment of certain mineral proceeds before the expiration of a complete dormancy period. Once the abandonment period for the first such payment has run, all subsequent payments due, held, or owing for that owner become reportable as unclaimed property – despite the fact that the dormancy period for all payments in the series has not been satisfied.

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Posted on Thursday, 1st September 2011 by Keane Unclaimed Property Team

Tax professionals may not think that unclaimed property compliance falls within their department’s jurisdiction – however, more often than not, it does. Even though unclaimed property laws are not tax laws, they are close cousins. Unclaimed property looks like a tax because there is an annual filing requirement governed by state law. It also feels like a tax because compliance requires ongoing monitoring of changes in laws and regulations. And for these reasons, the tax department is generally actively involved in – and ultimately responsible for – unclaimed property compliance.

In a recent article in Tax Executive titled, “Unclaimed Property Compliance: A Tax Department Responsibility?” Laura Lane, Senior Manager at Keane, outlined the role tax professionals play in the unclaimed property compliance process. She outlines several best practices tax professionals can adopt to enhance their company’s compliance level. These include identifying potential outstanding liabilities and working with management to preemptively resolve them, assisting management in developing a corporate policy regarding due diligence, reconciling accounts to prevent overpayment, documenting an annual compliance roadmap, and monitoring and tracking regulatory changes.

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Posted on Thursday, 2nd June 2011 by Keane Unclaimed Property Team

Keane consultants continue to lend their unclaimed property compliance expertise and advice to the media. This week, Bankers Digest included an article written by Valerie Jundt, the managing director of our Consulting & Advisory Services group. The article (click here to read), titled, “Financial Institutions Face Set of Regulations for Unclaimed Property,” discusses how financial institutions can misstep when it comes to unclaimed property reporting. In her article, Valerie discusses potential unclaimed property trouble for financial companies including:

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Posted on Wednesday, 1st June 2011 by Keane Unclaimed Property Team

As reported earlier, the New York State abandoned property laws changed recently when the Legislature passed its budget bill for 2011-2012 via Senate Bill 2811.

The bill includes multiple changes to the New York Abandoned Property Law that affect holders required to file with New York for the next reporting cycle.   The New State Comptroller’s Office of Unclaimed Funds has also added an alert to its website summarizing the recent changes.

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Posted on Friday, 6th May 2011 by Keane Unclaimed Property Team

On Tuesday, May 3rd, Texas substantially amended HB 257 proposing, among other things, to adjust the due dates for Texas unclaimed property rules, reporting, and delivery.  Previously, Texas’ reporting due date was November 1st with a cut-off date of June 30th.  The amended bill proposes a due date of July 1st with a cut-off date of March 1st.  Accordingly, Texas’ due diligence statute is amended to match the new deadline.

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Posted on Monday, 25th April 2011 by Keane Unclaimed Property Team

California unclaimed property continues to make big news this week – this time in their unclaimed property audits of the insurance industry. Last Friday, April 22nd, California State Controller John Chiang made the announcement that the state had settled with insurer John Hancock regarding an audit that was initiated in 2008. The settlement is apparently the first of many that Chiang expects, stemming from audits of 21 insurance companies that have been taking place. The purpose of the audits according to Chiang is to determine the insurance industry’s compliance with state unclaimed property laws.

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Posted on Wednesday, 13th April 2011 by Keane Unclaimed Property Team

We regularly receive questions from California companies and others regarding how the California unclaimed property reporting process works. Below is a brief summary of what is required.

California unclaimed property reporting rules have been confusing holders since August 24, 2007, when then-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed SB 86. Among other measures, this legislation included a provision requiring companies to use a two-step approach to reporting unclaimed property and delivering it to the State of California Controller’s Office.

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Posted on Friday, 8th April 2011 by Keane Unclaimed Property Team

March 30, 2011

Nevada unclaimed property, from casinos, could bring the state millions. When gamblers step into casinos, especially in Nevada, they’re looking to win big bucks. Typically, these gamblers don’t bother redeeming the low-value payout tickets dispensed from cashless slot machines or other electronic games.

However, if they cashed in those tickets each time they played, the abandoned winnings would begin to add up. Nevada state officials have not only done the math, but now they want their piece of the pie.

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Posted on Thursday, 7th April 2011 by Keane Unclaimed Property Team

Please be advised that on March 31, 2011, New York passed the budget bill S2811, which replaced the identical New York Abandoned Property Law A4011. The new law, effective immediately and due with the next reporting cycle, provides the following:

New York S2811 lowered the dormancy periods from 5 years to 3 years for the following property types:

• Money or securities held in escrow, but excluding escrow accounts for which the duty or obligation for which such amount was deposited has not been performed and such performance is still required.

• Amounts due on deposits held by a banking organization or any amount to which a shareholder of a savings and loan or a credit union is entitled.

• Accumulations of interest or other increments held by a bank for payment of an interest in a bond and mortgage apportioned or transferred by it.

More New York Abandoned Property Law Updates

In addition to adjusting dormancy periods, S2811 also amended New York’s reporting provisions. There following are major changes to keep in mind for your next report to New York:

1. Publication requirements: Every banking organization must publish on or before September 1st of each year a notice naming potential owners of unclaimed property being held by the banking organization. Every insurance company must publish on or before May 1st of each year a notice naming potential owners of unclaimed property being held by the company. These provisions provide a little more flexibility in that the previous requirement mandated publication within 30 days of filing a report.

2. Negative and Preliminary reports no longer required: Negative and preliminary reporting requirements are removed for banks, utility companies, insurance companies and condemnation awards reports. The bill further confirms the reporting deadlines and cut-off dates.  Once the statutory due diligence and publication requirements have been satisfied, the report and remittance would be due for banking institutions by November 10th and for life insurance companies by September 10th.

3. Miscellaneous:  The Verification and Checklist (AC2709) notarization requirement was lifted.  NY State law still mandates that all unclaimed funds valued at $20 and higher follow the statutory due diligence requirements.  The State Controller’s Office posts all owners entitled to property valued at $20 and higher on their website for at least one year. Gift cards remain at a 5 year dormancy period.  

Please note we will continue to track any changes regarding new legislation in our unclaimed property blog and our quarterly unclaimed property newsletter, Keanotes.

Should you have any questions or require additional information, you may also contact me directly via email at dzumoff@KeaneUP.com.

Sincerely,

Debbie L. Zumoff
Chief Compliance Officer
Keane

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