The Banking Amendment (Unclaimed Money) Bill 2013 has been introduced into the House of Representatives.
If passed, the Bill will amend section 69 of the Banking Act to allow ADIs to exclude reactivated accounts from their reporting statement and unclaimed moneys payment to the Commonwealth for future years and the supplementary reporting and payment due on 31 May 2013.
The new law will also allow the Treasurer to provide refunds directly to the ADIs who submit unclaimed moneys unnecessarily, such as payment for reactivated accounts.
UPDATE 31 May 2013:
The Banking Amendment (Unclaimed Moneys – Specified Accounts and Conditions) Regulation 2013 amends the Banking Regulations 1966 from 31 May 2013 to set conditions for security, set-off or escrow accounts and controlled accounts (including lease bond accounts, statutory trust accounts, and controlled money accounts) with ADIs to become unclaimed moneys.
The amendments specify that, for one of these accounts to be classified as unclaimed, no deposits or withdrawals must have been made for:
- a period of at least seven years if the ADIs have been only notified about the purpose of the accounts, or
- a period of at least three years after the relevant contract expired if the ADIs have been notified about the purpose of the accounts and the period of the underlying loan, financial obligation, legal requirement, or contract.
