Posted on Monday, 30th January 2012 by Keane Unclaimed Property Team

Recently, Val Jundt, Keane’s Managing Director of Consulting and Advisory Services, had the opportunity to sit down with the National Association of Credit Management (NACM) and give a few pointers on reporting unclaimed property. Val notes some of the more common mistakes in unclaimed property compliance, as well as some hints for companies that have not previously reported unclaimed property. You can read the entire article from the NACM by clicking here or read more below.

The article below is from the National Association of Credit Management Blog.

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Posted on Wednesday, 4th January 2012 by Keane Unclaimed Property Team

On January 1, 2012, Delaware published two proposed unclaimed property regulations numbered 959 and 965.  The first details new due diligence requirements, the second sets forth, in detail, audit appeals procedures.

Regulation 965 is titled, “Regulation on Practice and Procedure for Establishing Running of the Full Period of Dormancy for Certain Securities and Related Property.”  While the title purports to address the abandonment of securities property, the regulation, in fact, seeks to create a brand new obligation to perform due diligence in Delaware with respect only to “Securities and Related Property.”

“Securities and Related Property” is defined to mean Property that consists of:

1. Intangible ownership interests in corporations, whether or not represented by a stock certificate, bonds and other securities
2. Dividends, cash, stock and other distributions made (or attempted to be made) by issuers of securities in respect of the securities issued
3. Certificates of membership in a corporation or association
4. Funds deposited by a Holder with fiscal agents or fiduciaries for payment to Owners of dividends, coupon interest and liquidation value of stocks and bonds
5. Funds to redeem stocks and bonds

The new due diligence obligation does not include non-securities related properties or general ledger items.  As such, it appears that this is an effort on the part of Delaware regulators to respond to the backlash caused by the wave of Kelmar (Delaware initiated) audits across the securities arena over the past 18 months.

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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, 8th September 2011 by Keane Unclaimed Property Team

By Pamela Wentz, Senior Manager & Valerie Jundt, Managing Director – Keane Unclaimed Property Consulting & Advisory Services Group

As state budget deficits continue to grow, so does the importance of unclaimed property. Unclaimed property audits are occurring more frequently than ever before due in large part to the fiscal crises in many states. The main reason why is because it’s an easy way to raise revenue without imposing tax hikes on residents. In fact, the total value of unclaimed property in states’ custody is approximately 40 billion – and less than half will be reunited with its rightful owner.

At many companies, however, the topic of unclaimed property is one that often flies under the radar – even in the oil and gas industry. Unclaimed property can take the form of cash, stock certificates, uncashed checks, benefit plans, etc., however in the oil and gas industry, mineral proceeds, credit balances and suspense accounts are the big-ticket areas.  With the rise in the number of unclaimed property audits taking place, state auditors are getting more savvy about who to target and where to look for non-compliance.  Additionally, the methodologies utilized can be challenging for even the most compliant companies. The result is huge interest assessments and potential penalties at the expense of the company – and potential fallout among shareholders.

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Posted on Friday, 13th May 2011 by Keane Unclaimed Property Team

State Enforcement Update From Keane  – May 13, 2011

On April 25th 2011, Keane reported that California’s State Controller announced a large settlement with life insurer, John Hancock, regarding an insurance company unclaimed property audit.   In his announcement, State Controller Chiang asserted that insurers are not doing enough analysis of dormant accounts; and therefore are engaging in a practice of improperly failing to pay death benefits to the beneficiaries of life insurance policies.  It appears that the issues uncovered during California’s audit concerning the life insurer’s practices and compliance with unclaimed property laws have caused an escalation of the attention paid by the States to the insurance industry.  It has now been reported that 37 states have hired the third party audit firm, Verus, to determine whether life insurers are doing enough to find out whether life insurance policy insureds have died, locate the beneficiaries when the insureds have died, and turn unclaimed property over to the appropriate state agencies.
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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 Friday, 18th March 2011 by Keane Unclaimed Property Team

Pamela Wentz Joins Keane’s Unclaimed Property Consulting and Advisory Services Group as a Senior Manager

Last week, we announced that state unclaimed property audit director, Pamela Wentz, joined our team as senior manager of our Unclaimed Property Consulting and Advisory Services Group. Along with Valerie Jundt, Pamela will be serving this group from her office in Bismarck, North Dakota. We’re overjoyed to have Pamela on board as her extensive experience as a former state unclaimed property auditor not only gives her a unique perspective from which our clients will benefit, but also adds to our team’s deep industry knowledge. Read More »

Posted on Wednesday, 16th February 2011 by Keane Unclaimed Property Team

Keane’s National Managing Director, Valerie Jundt, weighs in on unclaimed property compliance challenges to MarketWatch

If you’re a regular reader of the Keane blog, you know we frequently write about the challenges companies face when it comes to unclaimed property compliance – one of the reasons being that every state has its own rules depending upon the property type in question. But there are other reasons that add complexities as well, including the fact that there’s no statute of limitations in an unclaimed property audit. States can (and do) request records dating back 15 years or more in some cases. Depending on how many years of records a state requests a company to provide, fines and penalties can increase by three to eight times resulting in millions of dollars owed to the state.

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Posted on Thursday, 20th January 2011 by Keane Unclaimed Property Team

Last week we blogged about how some of the states are beefing up their unclaimed property audit programs to continue aggressively targeting companies who are not complying with unclaimed property laws.

Adding its name to the list of states hiring or renewing auditors, Texas has just announced it has awarded two contracts for providing professional unclaimed property audit services.

To bolster their unclaimed property audit program, Texas has hired Verus Financial, LLC and ACS State & Local Solutions, Inc.

Verus Financial has been hired for a contract term of November 9, 2010 through August 31, 2011 with the option for two additional one-year renewals. ACS State & Local Solutions, Inc. has been hired for a contract term of December 16, 2010 through August 31, 2011 with the option for two additional one-year renewals. Read More »

Posted on Friday, 19th November 2010 by Keane Unclaimed Property Team

When not correctly managed and reported, the risk of state audits – and subsequent fines and penalties for inadequate unclaimed property compliance – become a distinct reality. There is a widely held belief, however, that the overwhelming majority of unclaimed property is not reported. In fact, most state estimates suggest that only 15-35 percent of companies are in full compliance with the laws.

The bottom line is that if unclaimed property isn’t on your radar, it should be. Read More »