Posted on Wednesday, 28th July 2010 by The Keane Organization

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At this point, you probably know that many organizations are carrying unclaimed property and are in danger of  escheat audits. But why do companies seem to be so willing to risk non-compliance? While many companies are aware of unclaimed property compliance requirements, some will just wait until they get hit with an escheat audit to do anything. Others understand the risk, but do not want to allocate the time or resources needed to proactively define their liability and reduce it.  And some are simply uninformed of their compliance obligations.

Debbie Zumoff, Chief Compliance Officer at Keane, recently spoke with John Cummings, Editor of Business Finance and Author of the BizTaxBuzz Blog, about escheat audits and why they seem to be in the future of so many companies.  Click here to read the whole post. 

Two of the downsides to not reporting unclaimed property are penalties and interest, which can quickly add up and even double the amount of underlying liability. For most companies, this can mean big losses. However, there are number of audit risk red flags that companies can look out for when it comes to unclaimed property. These include not reporting all property types, using inappropriate dormancy triggers, failing to perform state-mandated due diligence and many others. If companies are aware of these red flags upfront and keep them in mind when it’s time to file unclaimed property each year, they can better prepare for and defend against escheat audits and significantly reduce risk to their organization.

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Posted in Best Practices, Escheat Audits, Unclaimed Property Audit, Unclaimed Property Compliance, Unclaimed Property Reporting | Comments (0)

Posted on Wednesday, 14th April 2010 by The Keane Organization

Some important news for you if you’re a holder following state unclaimed property law; Indiana has recently announced a change –

Indiana Institutes Unclaimed Property Amnesty Program

A one-time only “Amnesty” program to help holders of unclaimed property regain compliance.

What does that mean exactly?

Well, a lot of companies continue holding unclaimed property on their books – either intentionally, or more often, simply because they are unaware of the state unclaimed property laws.

This is not very surprising considering the vast number of escheat laws that apply to holders across the 50 states, and the break-neck pace with which they change.

But this type of program allows holders to voluntarily come forward to comply with the laws without the threat of paying hefty interest and penalty payments. Read More »

Posted in State Escheatment, Unclaimed Property Audit, Unclaimed Property Compliance, Unclaimed Property Law | Comments (0)

Posted on Friday, 20th November 2009 by The Keane Organization

I’ve talked in the past about escheatment audit risk, the increased scrutiny companies are facing, and the rising state interest in unclaimed property. The bottom line is that unclaimed and abandoned property contributes a large amount of revenue to the States’…well, their top line revenue!

Apropos to that, I came across a story in the Time Picayune in New Orleans, LA regarding the State’s unclaimed property auditing and collection efforts. Benny Spann, director of the Unclaimed Property Division in the Louisiana’s Treasury Department shares some valuable insight about the state’s collection efforts and how it views unclaimed property (or abandoned property).

From the story:

The money collected this year brings the cumulative pot of unclaimed money forwarded to the state since the program began in 1972 to $643.6 million. The program has paid out $206.9 million to 271,808 individuals as of last week, Spann said.

Read More »

Posted in Escheatment, State Escheatment, Unclaimed Property Audit | Comments (0)

Posted on Monday, 26th October 2009 by The Keane Organization

In an ongoing effort to educate finance, accounting and compliance departments about their company’s unclaimed property risks, the Keane Organization’s Unclaimed Property Services Division (UPSD) is offering a unique opportunity to connect directly with Keane’s subject matter experts. An online Audit Risk Assessment is being made available to those who are interested in a way to evaluate their risk and receive tips on prevention.

Read More »

Posted in Best Practices, Unclaimed Property Audit, Unclaimed Property Compliance, Unclaimed Property Reporting | Comments (0)

Posted on Tuesday, 15th September 2009 by The Keane Organization

This post by Gail Warner, President of Keane’s Unclaimed Property Services Division, appeared on Keane’s corporate blog, “KeaneObservations” written by Peter Teuten, Keane’s risk management expert.

I’m picking up where Peter left off last week regarding the topic of unclaimed property audit and how it relates to risk management and compliance.

The words audit and risk go hand in hand. The word “audit” alone makes anyone in a corporate finance or risk management department cringe and begin vigorous preparations (and palpitations!). But in the case of an unclaimed property audit, that natural reaction tends to be a mix of confusion and uncertainty. It’s much more important now that companies understand the drivers of unclaimed property risk because audits are on the rise. Depending on state laws (and the extent of some state’s budget woes), unclaimed property offers states an attractive source of alternate capital (you see, much of the money states collect from companies is often used on state programs that would otherwise not happen or would require the use of additional tax dollars).

Read More »

Posted in Best Practices, Escheat Consulting, State Escheatment, Unclaimed Property Audit, Unclaimed Property Compliance, Unclaimed Property Reporting | Comments (0)

Posted on Friday, 11th September 2009 by The Keane Organization

By Peter Teuten, President of Keane’s Business Risk Management Solutions

Ignorance is bliss – right? I think we have all come to view that cliché with disdain during the economic crisis. The known risk is often the most easy to manage. The hidden risk is obviously less easy to measure, manage and monitor. This was/is true of the highly leveraged mortgage and lending industries, the Wall St. investment banks, and even government.

An example of this kind of hidden risk that I see a great deal of is in the area of unclaimed property and reporting.

Read More »

Posted in Best Practices, Seminars, Unclaimed Property Audit, Unclaimed Property Reporting | Comments (0)

Posted on Monday, 24th August 2009 by The Keane Organization

The Association of Financial Professionals (AFP) is hosting a web seminar about Unclaimed Property Audit prevention on Thursday, August 27^th from 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. ET. The event features Sonia Walwyn, Regional Vice President of The Keane Organization’s Unclaimed Property Services Division. Sonia will be joined by Keane client Val Golin, Escheatment Spokesperson of ING Direct to speak on the topic “Unclaimed Property: Ensuring Compliance in the Face of Audit”.

Read More »

Posted in Best Practices, Seminars, Unclaimed Property Audit, Unclaimed Property Compliance | Comments (0)