[ 2021-03-04 ]

BoG issues directive on dormant and unclaimed accounts
The Bank of Ghana has issued a directive on
unclaimed balances & dormant accounts for banks
and specialized deposit-taking institutions.

The directive seeks to ensure that balances in
accounts that have been left unattended to for
over a period of time are managed under a special
account. The account is referred to as the
dormant account register.

The directive by the Bank of Ghana which is
pursuant to Section 92 of the Banks and
Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016,
explained that a dormant account could be a
current or savings account with credit balances
and their derivatives with no
‘customer-initiated activity’ by the account
holder or a third party on the account holder’s
behalf for a period of two years.

In the case of fixed deposits or investments
scheduled by a customer to roll over upon maturity
and the roll-over has persisted for more than
three consecutive rollovers or two years, a
regulated financial institution shall initiate
actions to re-identify the customer, renew consent
to continue the instructions and update the
customer’s records.



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The directive shall however not be applied to
accounts that are subjects of litigation, fraud,
investigations by a regulatory authority or law
enforcement agencies, and others.

Where the regulated financial institution is
unable to contact the fixed deposit account holder
pursuant to subsection 7, the regulated financial
institution shall transfer the funds to the
dormant account register.

Creation of dormant account register

Where an account becomes dormant and the balance
is less than an amount determined by the Bank of
Ghana, the regulated financial institution may
transfer the account to the dormant account
register or close the account after due notice to
the customer of the decision to close the account
and transfer funds to the customer or the Bank of
Ghana where the customer could not be reached.

The Bank of Ghana stated that a dormant account
shall continue to be covered under the Ghana
Deposit Protection Scheme until transfer to the
Bank of Ghana.

The directive requires a regulated financial
institution to take adequate steps to contact an
account holder at least three months prior to an
account falling into dormancy and also take all
necessary steps to identify a dormant account
holder prior to initiating dormant account
reactivation.

Importantly, in an effort to locate a dormant
account holder, a regulated financial institution
shall also not disclose the account balances and
any other sensitive information to any third
party.

The directive also added a regulated financial
institution shall display a poster in all banking
halls on the process of reclaim of funds of
dormant accounts transferred to the Bank of Ghana.
This shall include information on how accounts of
customers may be regarded as dormant.

Steps to follow to reclaim account

The directive said a regulated financial
institution shall display a poster in all banking
halls on the process of reclaim of funds of
dormant accounts transferred to the Bank of Ghana.
This shall include information on how accounts of
customers may be regarded as dormant.

Also, a regulated financial institution that
receives a request from a dormant account holder
of funds transferred to the Bank of Ghana shall
take steps to validate and seek the claim on
behalf of the claimant at the Bank of Ghana.

Penalties for failing to comply with directive

According to the BoG financial institutions that
breach provisions of this directive shall be
liable to an administrative penalty of not more
than ten thousand penalty units.

Notwithstanding the penalties specified, the Bank
of Ghana may impose any other penalty or take any
remedial action that the BoG considers appropriate

Source - Citinewsroom

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