Law of Finance and Securities - Assignment Example

What should a depositor do in such kind of situation? Relevant Laws An unclaimed money refers to “all principal, interest, dividends, bonuses, profits and sums of money legally payable by an ADI (Australian Deposit-taking Institution) but in respect of which the time within which proceedings may be taken for the recovery thereof has expired, and includes moneys to the credit of an account that has not been operated on either by deposit or withdrawal for a period of not less than seven years” (s69.

1 Banking Act (BA) 1959). It is classified into three: (1) money in which its recovery “has been or may be barred by operation of law” (2) deposited money (3) “share capital subscribed for a share in a body from which the capital subscribed may be withdrawn by the subscriber” (s8 Unclaimed Money Act 1995 (UMA)). These three are held by an enterprise in an account which “has not been in operated for at least” six years or shorter as may be required by regulations or as may be confirmed by the Chief Commissioner to a certain enterprise (s7.

1 UMA 1995). An Australian Deposit-taking Institution is obliged to transmit a statement to the Treasurer of all the amount of unclaimed money (s69.3 BA 1959). The sums of unclaimed money should have a minimum amount of one hundred dollars or higher (s69.3 BA 1959). An enterprise holding an unclaimed money should make reasonable efforts to locate and identify the money owner as well as to make sure that the owner is paid (s8A.1 UMA 1995). A failure to do so would not make the money an unclaimed money (s8A.

2 UMA 1995). The owner of the unclaimed money has the right to recover the money from the Commissioner of Internal Revenue (s15 UMA 1995). An application for repayment should be lodged by the owner at any period before such right is extinguished (s17-18 UMA 1995). The right shall be terminated if no action has been made to recover the money within the six year period from the date of payment of the unclaimed money to the Chief Commissioner (s16 UMA 1995). Application Under BA 1959, Elizabeth’s money could be an unclaimed money if she has not been active with her bank account for at least seven years.

On the other hand, based on UMA 1995, Elizabeth’s money in the bank would be judged as an unclaimed money if her bank account has not been in operation for not less than six years or shorter and that the bank had exerted reasonable efforts to locate her but was proven unsuccessful. In the instant scenario, it would seem that Elizabeth had not been active with her bank account for more than seven years. The facts of the case provide that she discovered an old bank book she had as a child. If her money is indeed an unclaimed money, then, the bank has a right to pass it to the government.

To note, the minimum amount of money required under section 69.3 of BA 1959 is one hundred dollars. In the instant case, Elizabeth had over one thousand dollars in her old bank account. There is no notification period provided under UMA 1995. Nonetheless, it is emphasized that reasonable efforts should be exerted by the bank to locate and identify the owner of the money before declaring the money as an unclaimed money. The reason of which is that some people actually tend to forget their bank accounts (Tyree 2008).

They move to other places and do not receive notifications (Tyree 2008). If the bank holding Elizabeth’s money had performed the cited requisite but was proven un