DECISION ON BANK'S HANDLING OF DORMANT ACCOUNTS

Transcription

1 In accordance with Articles 9 and 25 of the Law on Banking Agency of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Official Gazette of the Federation of B&H, No. 9/96, 27/98, 20/00, 45/00, 58/02, 13/03, 19/03, 47/06, 59/06, 48/08, 34/12 and 77/12), Article 45a, paragraph 1 of the Law on Banks ( Official Gazette of the Federation of B&H, No. 39/98, 32/00, 48/01, 27/02, 41/02, 58/02, 13/03, 19/03, 28/03 and 66/13) and Article 18 of the Statute of the Banking Agency of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Official Gazzete of the Federation of B&H, No. 42/04), the Management Board of the Banking Agency of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on its session held on , adopted the DECISION ON BANK'S HANDLING OF DORMANT ACCOUNTS Article 1 This Decision prescribes the activities that the bank is obliged to provide and implement in relation to the handling of dormant accounts. Article 2 (1) An account is considered dormant when there have been no activities of depositing or withdrawing funds from the account, performed or ordered by the owner, legal representative or other authorised person (hereinafter: the client) for a period of 12 months from the date of last activity, i.e. 12 months following the expiry of the contracted or contractual relationship in the case of term and special-purpose deposits and deposits related to cards business, with the exception of accounts referred to in Article 3 of this Decision. (2) The bank's activities with respect to the account (automatic registration of interest, collection related to the account, etc.), as well as activities by entities independent of the will of the client (collection by authorities or in accordance with a court ruling, etc.) are not considered activities of depositing or withdrawing funds from the account in terms of this Decision. Article 3 This Decision does not apply to: a) term deposits with a contracted automatic extension of the term agreement after the expiry of the contracted period; b) accounts involved in legal proceedings (forced collection or freezing). Article 4 (1) During the contracting process, the Bank is obliged to provide the client with information on the conditions under which the account becomes dormant and under which it is closed. (2) Bank account agreements must contain a provision which clearly states under which circumstances the account is considered dormant, the conditions under which a dormant

2 account is reactivated, and the conditions under which the bank carries out the closing of a dormant account. Article 5 (1) The bank shall, no later than 15 days before declaring an account dormant, notify the client in written form, to the last known address, that the account will be declared dormant, i.e. closed, of the consequences that arise in such cases and the account balance. (2) The notice referred to in paragraph (1) may be submitted to the client electronically by the bank, provided that it that has been agreed upon with the client, as well as using other agreed upon methods (SMS, etc.). (3) The bank shall inform the client annually and in agreed upon written form of the dormant account's state. (4) The bank can collect the cost of the notices referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article using funds from the dormant account, and if there are no funds in the account, that notice is free of charge and the account is closed in accordance with the provisions of this Decision. (5) The cost of the notice referred to in paragraph (1) cannot exceed the amount the bank charges for maintaining the client's current/transaction account. Article 6 (1) If the client does not activate the account within 15 days of receiving the notice referred to in Article 5, paragraph (1) of this Decision, the bank shall immediately close the account if there are no funds in it. (2) The closing of an account does not charge a fee to natural persons account owners. (3) The fee for the closing of an account of other persons/entities cannot exceed the fee for the closing of regular accounts and must be appropriate with respect to the amount of costs the bank has on that basis. Article 7 (1) If the client does not activate the account within 15 days of receiving the notice referred to in Article 5, paragraph (1) of this Decision, and there are funds in the account, the bank declares the account dormant and keeps it in that status as long as there are funds in that account. (2) The date of receipt of the notice referred to in Article 5, paragraph (1) of this Decision is the date of the delivery of the registered mail with a return receipt to the client, i.e. the date of return of such mail as undelivered in case the client is not at the last known address. Article 8 (1) A dormant account reactivated by the client's actions or orders, which result in the depositing or withdrawing of funds from the account. (2) The Bank shall verify the client's identity again in case of the account activation referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article, and the client is obliged to submit the necessary documentation as if they were opening an account, in accordance with the bank's procedures and standards to prevent money laundering and financing of terrorist activities.

3 Article 9 (1) The bank calculates interest on dormant accounts like interest on call deposits, in accordance with its act regulating interest rate policy and fee amounts. (2) The bank may calculate the interest referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article by interest accrual in the moment of account activation, on the amount and for the period of account inactivity, if that has been agreed upon with the client. Article 10 (1) The Bank may charge a fee for the costs of maintaing a dormant account as if it were active as long as there are funds in it. (2) The amount of fee for the costs of maintaining a dormant account cannot exceed the amount of fee charged for maintaining an active account. Article 11 (1) The bank shall record dormant accounts in such a way that the client can immediately be provided with information on the account and its activation under the conditions prescribed in this Decision and in the manner prescribed by the bank's procedures. (2) The bank shall perform the archiving of closed dormant accounts in the same way as the archiving of all other accounts and it shall record them separately. (3) Data on the records referred to in paragraph (2) of this Article shall be kept and preserved for a period of 10 years from the closing of a dormant account. Article 12 (1) The bank shall report to the Banking Agency of the Federation of B&H on the number and status of funds in dormant accounts on a special form, the appearance of which is prescribed by the Agency. (2) The form referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article is attached to this Decision and is an integral part of the aforementioned. Article 13 (1) Article 4, paragraph (2) of this Decision does not apply to agreements concluded before the entry into force of this Decision, but the bank shall inform clients in written form of the conditions under which the account will be considered dormant, the conditions under which a dormant account is reactivated, and the conditions under which and timeframe in which the bank carries out the closing of a dormant account. (2) The Bank shall submit the notice referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article to the client in the manner described in Article 5, pargraphs (1) and (2) of this Decision, and no later than when sending the first notice referred to in Article 5, paragraph (3) of this Decision. Article 14 (1) The bank shall, within 60 days of the date of this Decision entering into force, adopt procedures regulating the handling of dormant accounts, which among other things include activities and procedures for activating accounts, identification methods for the client of the activated account (simplified, standard or enhanced) depending on the risk

4 assessment, the manner of recording dormant accounts and the manner of archiving closed dormant accounts. (2) The bank shall harmonise operations with this Decision no later than 30 days from the date of the procedures referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article being adopted and close dormant accounts that have become dormant prior to the entry into force of this Decision, if the conditions for their closing have been met in accordance with this Decision (there are no funds in the account or there is a negative balance). (3) The Bank shall start with the reporting referred to in Article 12 of this Decision after the expiry of 90 days from the date of this Decision entering into force. Article 15 With the entry into force of this Decision, the Decision on Interest and Fee Calculation for Dormant Accounts ( Official Gazette of the Federation of B&H", No. 7/03) ceases to be valid. Article 16 This Decision shall enter into force eight days following its date of publication in the Official Gazette of the Federation of B&H. No.: U.O. 69-2/15 Sarajevo, PRESIDENT OF THE MANAGEMENT BOARD Rajka Topčić, B. Sc. (Econ.), sgd.

5