Road Town, Tortola - The draft Abandoned Properties and Dormant Accounts Act, 2009, currently awaiting its second and third readings in the House of Assembly, is said to indicate further positive development of the Territory’s legislative regime.

In an interview with the Department of Information and Public Relations, Financial Secretary, Mr. Neil Smith said, “The dormant accounts Act is designed to provide a framework by which unclaimed assets are ceded to and managed by the Government of the Virgin Islands.”

He added, “The Act itself will provide protocols for the management of said properties and accounts and will clearly outline procedures for claimants.”

The draft Act stipulates that a list of account holders and the amount on the accounts will have to be sent to the Government, after the banks have made all reasonable efforts to notify account holders.

After this action, monies from definite dormant accounts will be transferred to a special fund, consisting of a reserve account and an investment and disbursement account. Even after this transaction, persons will still have the opportunity to claim ownership of dormant accounts, once they show proof.

Policy Analyst II with the Ministry of Finance, Ms. Jenifer O’Neal, also spoke with the Department of Information and Public Relations. She explained, “The dormant accounts Act will only affect the bank accounts that are inactive.”

Ms. O’Neal continued, “A dormant account is an account that has not had any activity for a specified dormancy period, as stipulated by the draft Act.”

“In some cases, account holders may have forgotten, and in others, they may have died; all the while these accounts may still be subject to bank fees. The account holders can benefit if the Government obtains the funds, which would rule out the enforcement of any fees or payments,” said Ms. O’Neal.

As outlined in the draft Act, a committee, to be chaired by the Financial Secretary, will be formed to administer the fund. The Accountant General, the Director of Internal Audit, a representative of the Financial Services Commission, not below the rank of a director, two persons nominated by financial services institutions and a representative of the Attorney General will also sit on the committee.

The Abandoned Properties and Dormant Accounts Act, 2009 was supposed to receive its second and third readings yesterday at the fourth sitting of the third session of the first House of Assembly of the Virgin Islands.

However, due to recent modifications it was postponed until the House of Assembly reconvenes at a later date.

The formulation of the draft Dormant Accounts Act is in line with the mission of the Ministry of Finance, which is to promote leadership in the development and implementation of an overall economic and fiscal strategy aimed at promoting financial and economic stability, growth and development of the Virgin Islands.