Policy paper

Government Response to the Commission on Dormant Assets' Report

The government's response to the Commission on Dormant Assets' report.

From:
Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, Tracey Crouch MP, and The Rt Hon Matt Hancock MP
Published
16 February 2018

Documents

Government Response to Commission on Dormant Assets

PDF, 446 KB, 12 pages

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Details

In 2016, the government established the Independent Commission on Dormant Assets. The Commission was asked to report to government on which additional dormant assets could be brought into an expanded dormant assets scheme. The Dormant Bank and Building Societies Accounts Act (2008) means that, at present, only assets from the banking sector can be transferred into the scheme.

The Commission published its report in March 2017. The report was prepared in consultation with firms, Reclaim Fund Ltd, trade associations and regulatory bodies. It found that there were potentially significant values of dormant assets in a range of financial services sectors which could be included in an expanded dormant assets scheme.

This is the government response to the Commission on Dormant Assets’ report. It confirms the government’s commitment to:

  • support industry to expand the dormant assets scheme to include a wider range of financial assets, potentially including the insurance and pensions, investment and wealth management, and securities sectors
  • appoint senior industry champions to drive forward this industry-led initiative, and to report to Government on the details of implementation
  • retain the main principles of the scheme, including that customers should be able to reclaim dormant money at any time and that firms’ participation in the scheme should be voluntary
  • ensure that, where appropriate, certain assets remain outside the scope of the scheme
  • engage with Co-Operative Banking Group about the appropriate future governance structure for Reclaim Fund Ltd

This government response has been published jointly by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and HM Treasury.

Published 16 February 2018

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