You have until 31 August to lodge claims on unclaimed shares - UFAA

A huge amount of unreported wealth in the form of unclaimed financial assets is being kept safely by the government. This is out of necessity until the owners can rightfully claim them. The value of these abandoned assets continues to run into the billions though lawfully held by the state. These assets are in the form of shares, security deposits, tax refunds, long forgotten bank accounts and pension money, among others.

Recently, The Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA) notified the public that various institutions have reported over 800 million units of unclaimed shares among other assets to the authority (UFAA). In following, UFAA wishes to advise apparent owners or beneficiaries to lodge claims on these shares.

Members of the general public are invited to find out whether they are owners or beneficiaries of abandoned shares. This can easily be done through the shortcode *361#. Alternatively, one can also pay a visit to the website, www.ufaa.go.ke

How to claim the shares

In order to claim shares, rightful owners are required to obtain a holder’s letter from share registrars and submit a claim online via the UFAA website using relevant forms. This campaign for the reunification of reported unclaimed shares will run until 31ST August, 2020.

More about the UFAA

UFAA was established after an Act of Parliament was drafted to provide a framework for the reporting and dealing with unclaimed financial assets - Unclaimed Financial Assets Act, 2011. The authority started operations in 2014.

The authority's mission is to receive, safeguard and reunite unclaimed assets for sustainable and shared social and economic prosperity.

Since its inception, the authority has received unclaimed financial assets and safeguarded them in the Unclaimed Financial Assets Trust Fund. It then follows up on the rightful owners based on the information given by the holders, in a process called re-unification where claimants get back their assets after a prescribed process has been followed.

By doing this in a clear and concise manner, the authority has progressively gained and maintained public confidence by providing relevant and accurate information.

To learn even more about the authority, visit the website on www.ufaa.go.ke