Financial institutions surrendered about Sh2.23 billion in idle cash in their accounts to the state in six months to December 31, the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority said yesterday.
This raised the value of funds whose owners cannot be traced to more than Sh8.29 billion, underlining the growing challenge of funds whose owners cannot be traced. About Sh409.11 million were in foreign currency, UFAA said.
The state agency, fully constituted in January 2015, is tasked with receiving the unclaimed funds and making effort to re-unite the cash with its owners or beneficiaries.
The agency said only a paltry Sh23.21 million had been paid as at end of last year to 281 claimants out of 2, 160 claims valued at Sh83.5 million that had been lodged by last December.
“Owners’ names and their last known address have been published on the Authority’s website to facilitate online enquiries,” UFAA said via email yesterday. “The Authority has rolled out aggressive awareness campaigns to sensitise the public on unclaimed assets and how to file claims successfully. Only fully supported claims are paid out as stipulated in law and attendant regulations.”
The Unclaimed Financial Assets Act 2011 requires banks, insurers, brokerage firms, pension funds and utilities, including mobile money service providers, to surrender cash not claimed for three years to the authority by November 1 of every year.
This includes cash in accounts that have been dormant for years, and whose owners cannot be traced as at end of June every year.
Assets deemed unclaimed include cheques and money orders not cashed for more than two years, and cash deposits, savings and securities in banks and other financial institutions that have remained idle for five years.
Others are insurance policies and annuity contracts that mature or are terminated, but remain unclaimed for two years.
Commercial banks accounted for Sh5.51 billion or 66.44 per cent of the Sh8.29 billion that was lying idle in Unclaimed Financial Assets Trust Fund's account at the Central Bank of Kenya.
About Sh1.57 billion or 18.98 per cent of the total was received from listed firms in unclaimed dividends, Sh707.68 million from insurers and Sh456.37 million from mobile money service providers.
The reminder of the funds included Sh22.44 million from pension funds, Sh7.99 million from Saccos, while another Sh14.74 million was surrendered by other institutions like law firms.