皇冠体育app

1. How the Scheme Operates

皇冠体育app UK Dormant Assets Scheme was established by the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008 (the Act). It is led by industry and backed by government, with the aim of reuniting owners with their financial assets. Where this is not possible, this money supports important social and environmental initiatives across the UK. Dormant assets remain the property of their owners, who can reclaim any money owed to them in full at any time. However, only a small percentage do so. 皇冠体育app rest of the money lies dormant. 皇冠体育app Scheme responds to the imperative to put this money to better use.

A dormant asset is a financial product, such as a bank account, that has sat unused for many years, and which the provider has been unable to reunite with its owner, despite efforts based on industry best practice.

皇冠体育app Scheme is underpinned by the following principles, which the government has committed to upholding as part of any expansion:

1. Reunification first: Customer protection is at the heart of the Scheme. Businesses鈥� first priority is therefore to reunite customers with their assets;

2. Full restitution: Customers are always able to reclaim the amount they would have been owed had their assets never been transferred into the Scheme; and

3. Voluntary participation: 皇冠体育app Scheme allows businesses to voluntarily transfer funds from dormant assets. 皇冠体育appy can decide if they want to join and how much they transfer.

Businesses鈥� first priority is to reunite owners with their assets. This includes trying to locate people who might have moved house 鈥� for example, by tracing them via Royal Mail, email, telephone, a tracing service, or a credit reference agency.

If the asset has been classified as dormant and cannot be reunited with its owner, participating firms can transfer the funds to Reclaim Fund Ltd (RFL), an authorised reclaim fund, which takes on the liability to meet any reclaims. RFL manages the funds, retaining enough to meet any reclaims and distributing the rest to social and environmental initiatives via 皇冠体育app National Lottery Community Fund (TNLCF).

A transfer and agency agreement (TAA) is held between RFL and the bank or building society, and establishes a contractual framework between the two parties. 皇冠体育app TAA outlines the operational arrangements for transfers and reclaims, and includes further details of participants鈥� obligations to undertake reunification efforts prior to transferring eligible assets into the Scheme.

RFL is legally obliged to retain a portion of the funds it receives in order to repay owners who come forward to reclaim their money. RFL currently releases circa 60% of the money it receives to social and environmental initiatives, and reserves 40% for reclaims, of which a portion is invested. This approach is based on actuarial modelling and Financial Conduct Authority guidance.

皇冠体育app funds that RFL releases go to TNLCF and are apportioned to each nation in the UK according to the Distribution of Dormant Account Money (Apportionment) Order 2011, based on the Barnett formula. 皇冠体育app 2008 Act sets out specific purposes for which the English portion of the funds can be distributed; while the devolved administrations can, by secondary legislation, set the specific purposes or people to which their portion of funding can be distributed. Relevant ministers in each nation can also issue broad policy directions to TNLCF on how to allocate their portion of the funding to social or environmental causes.

皇冠体育app 2008 Act requires TNLCF to report on its policy and practice in relation to the additionality principle: that dormant assets funding should be used for projects, or aspects of projects, for which funds would be unlikely to be made available by central or devolved governments.

Scotland and Wales use TNLCF as their delivery partner for projects focusing on young people, climate change, and sustainability, while Northern Ireland has worked with TNLCF to establish a 拢20.5m Dormant Accounts Fund for the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector. In England, the funds are currently dedicated to initiatives focused on youth, financial inclusion, or social investment. TNLCF distributes dormant assets funding to four specialist independent dormant assets organisations (, , and . 皇冠体育appir operations are regularly reviewed by the independent , which ensures optimal accountability and transparency around each of the organisations鈥� activities.

皇冠体育appre are more than 30 firms participating in the current Scheme, including HSBC Bank plc, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide Building Society, Royal Bank of Scotland, and 皇冠体育app Co-operative Bank plc. 皇冠体育appre is also an alternative Scheme available for small banks and building societies. 皇冠体育app alternative Scheme enables firms with balance sheets below 拢7bn to transfer dormant account funds to RFL and nominate a local or aligned charity to receive the surplus. 皇冠体育app alternative Scheme will be maintained but will not be expanded.

A full list of participants of the Main Scheme for larger banks and building societies can be found and details of the Alternative Scheme can be found .

Dormant assets remain the property of their owners. Owners are able to reclaim the cash amount of what they would have been owed had their asset not been transferred into the Scheme at any time. 皇冠体育app Scheme responds to the imperative to put the money that isn鈥檛 reclaimed to better use.

Owners can trace their dormant assets through a variety of means. In the first instance, owners should contact the business that held their money. Please see sector-specific resources and advice below:

Banks and building societies	Owners should trace their dormant bank accounts through .
Insurance and pensions	鈥� Owners can use the gov.uk site to search for a lost pension 鈥� Owners can also visit the for guidance on tracing lost assets 鈥� Owners can also refer to the , which can be used to trace policies should an acquisition or brand change have occurred that clients may not have been notified of
Investment and wealth management	Owners should contact firms directly to trace lost assets, using the to access a searchable list of firms for the sector
Securities	Owners should reach out to their individual issuer in the first instance, who can then direct them to the correct registrars to support tracing.

2. How is money from the Scheme spent

皇冠体育app Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008 dictates that all dormant accounts money must be used to fund initiatives which have a social or environmental purpose.

Funds from the Scheme are split between the four nations to be spent on social and environmental causes. Since 2011, 拢800m has been released to good causes in these areas across the UK.

皇冠体育app Scheme allows responsible businesses to have a positive impact on society and the environment by contributing dormant assets for systemic change.

In England, funding is allocated to expert organisations to deliver innovative projects addressing entrenched social challenges. 皇冠体育app Scheme plays an important role in society. It provides long-term, flexible funding that enables expert organisations to focus on creating positive systemic change to important issues such as youth unemployment, problem debt, and environmental issues. This has never been more important than in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.

In England, expenditure is currently ring-fenced for initiatives focused on social investment, youth or financial inclusion. To date over 拢650m has been allocated to four organisations working across the three causes:

1. Big Society Capital (拢425m)
2. Access 鈥� 皇冠体育app Foundation for Social Investment (拢40m)
3. 皇冠体育app Youth Futures Foundation (拢90m)
4. Fair4All Finance (拢96m)

In Wales, 拢36.4m of dormant assets funding has been allocated. 皇冠体育app money has been spent on a mix of projects focusing on climate change and sustainability and supporting young people with disabilities into employment. This includes 拢15m invested in young people, learning, education and employment; and 拢4.5m in climate change action.

In Scotland, 拢62.4m of dormant assets funding has been allocated. 皇冠体育app Scottish government uses dormant assets funding to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of young people by supporting them to learn new skills and enter employment through the Young Start programme.

In Northern Ireland, dormant assets funding will be used to increase the capacity, resilience and sustainability of the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector via a 拢20.5m , which will provide multi-year, flexible support for the sector. Applications for the Fund opened in January 2021.

3. RFL as an HM Treasury Non-Departmental Public Body

In September 2019, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) informed the government of its decision to classify RFL as a central government body, effective from the date of its establishment by the Co-operative Banking Group (now Angel Square Investments Ltd).

皇冠体育app government worked extensively with RFL and Angel Square Investments Ltd to respond to the ONS鈥� classification in a way that safeguards the effective operation of the Scheme, both now and in the future, making sure that plans for Scheme expansion are not affected.

RFL is now a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) of HM Treasury, operating at arm鈥檚 length from the government. RFL will continue to manage the Scheme in an open and transparent way, governed by a separate board of Directors.

RFL鈥檚 funds remain financially separate from central government funds. Surplus funds will continue to be transferred to TNLCF for onward distribution in accordance with legislation.

4. Expansion

Since 2016, industry has been working with the government to consider how best to expand the Scheme.

In 2017, the Commission on Dormant Assets reported on the potential to expand the Scheme to include a wider range of asset classes. In 2018, the government confirmed its support for Scheme expansion and asked industry to explore how this would happen in practice.

Four senior Industry Champions took on this challenge in 2018. 皇冠体育appir report, published in April 2019, made recommendations to industry, the government and regulators on broadening the current Scheme beyond banks and building society accounts to include assets from the insurance and pensions, investment and wealth management, and securities sectors. It concluded that primary legislation would be needed to expand the Scheme.

In preparing their report, the Industry Champions convened sector-specific working groups involving around 80 different organisations from across the four sectors.

皇冠体育app responses showed widespread support for expanding the Scheme from bank and building society accounts to include assets in the insurance and pensions, investment and wealth management, and securities sectors.

Building on this, the government launched a public consultation on expansion in 2020 to gather an even wider set of views on the proposed approach to expanding the Scheme. 皇冠体育appre were 89 responses to the consultation, representing more than 500 organisations and individuals in total. 皇冠体育app government response, which you can read here, was published in January 2021 and committed to introducing legislation to enable Scheme expansion. Responses to the consultation have informed the development of the Bill.

皇冠体育app expanded Scheme will function in a similar manner to the existing Scheme, with a participant signing a transfer and agency agreement before transferring money to RFL. Such an agreement gives RFL the flexibility to tailor certain provisions to the assets in question, ensuring that the relevant consumer protection requirements, including tracing, verification and reunification, are followed.