Cindy Nisley
President, Georgeson Securities
As unclaimed property administrator for many of our corporate clients, Computershare continues to monitor changes to escheatment laws and corresponding trends in legislation across the country.
Recent changes to escheatment laws, moving from ‘lost’ or ‘RPO’ (Returned by Post Office) to account inactivity have put even more shareholders at risk of escheatment. Under the traditional ‘lost’ framework, escheatment is primarily triggered by evidence that an owner could not be located, such as returned mail (RPO).
However, many states now presume property is abandoned based on a period of inactivity, generally three to five years, regardless of whether an owner is technically ‘lost.’ Florida is one of the latest states to recognize account inactivity. This has resulted in a significant increase in the number of accounts of passive owners being considered eligible to be escheated.
It is important to Computershare that your shareholders “keep what’s theirs.” To help increase contact and keep shareholders connected to their assets, we redesigned our due diligence letter and streamlined our communication process.
The improved shareholder experience includes:
- A simplified, easier to understand due diligence letter, that continues to comply with complex state requirements.
- More prominent display of account details to help shareholders access their information.
- Enhanced language showing the response options – scan the QR code to visit the website, call Computershare or mail the form.
- A new, dedicated, automated telephone line to allow shareholders to re-establish contact as well as execute common transactions.
- Updated website dedicated to escheatment related questions that allows shareholders to update their last contact date (LCD) online, quickly and easily with 24/7/365 convenience.
- Shareholders who prefer mailing the form still have this option.
Before
After
While these new notices just went into circulation with November and December due diligence mailings for spring escheatment states, early indications are showing a much higher response rate than in the past, especially through the new webpage and automated telephone system, which will help shareholders “keep what’s theirs.” We continue to improve our processes and look forward to shareholder feedback on these enhancements.
If you have any questions about the unclaimed property due diligence process, please contact me at cnisley@georgeson.com or reach out to your Relationship Manager.
To help protect your shareholders from unnecessary escheatment, add a link to your corporate website that connects to our “Keep What’s Yours” educational videos.
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Computershare is not providing, and does not intend to provide, any legal, tax or investment advice.