“The enactment of Senate Bill 267 on August 15, 2024, clarified and confirmed foreign addressed property that is reportable to, or specifically exempted by a foreign country is not reportable to the State. Please note this applies to reports filed and property remitted after the effective date of this legislative change. For more information, see 12 Del. C. §§ 1130(7) and 1141.

“The State has received numerous inquiries about the applicability of this amendment, including requests that the State provide comprehensive legal guidance to holders for every foreign jurisdiction. The State reasonably expects that holders who operate in foreign jurisdictions are appropriately aware of their regulatory and other compliance requirements, including their unclaimed property reporting obligations, in the foreign jurisdictions in which they operate. It is not an unreasonable expectation that holders are aware of or obtain legal guidance regarding the unclaimed property laws of the jurisdictions in which they operate, as a cost of doing business internationally.

“The State has never required the reporting of foreign property when that property has been previously reportable to a foreign jurisdiction. The State expects holders to comply with their legal obligations by reporting property to the appropriate jurisdiction, or applying this exemption only to ‘property … specifically exempt from custodial taking under the law of this State or the state or foreign jurisdiction of the last-known address of the owner.’

“To the extent that foreign address property is not reportable or not exempted by a foreign country, such property is reportable to the State of Delaware by holders legally domiciled or incorporated in Delaware. If a country has no unclaimed property law, or is silent as to a particular property type, there is no specific, or express, exemption for a property type, and therefore, the property should be reported according to Delaware law and the Priority Rules.

“At the present, the State does not have reciprocal agreements with any other jurisdiction. All property with an address in any other state of the United States, the District of Columbia, or any territory or possession of the United States, must be reported in compliance with that jurisdiction’s unclaimed property laws.

“For more information about where to report, refer to 12 Del. C. §§ 1140 and 1141.”

View the updated holder handbook.

• Use the Manual Online Reporting tool to enter your report on our website.
• Download updated reporting materials and forms.
• Preview the NAUPA III standard file format.

For specific questions or concerns, use the state’s Contact Us form, select Subject: Reporter Question, and in the Comments section, add “NAUPA Conversion.”

• Meeting conditions designed to protect the interests of the missing individuals. 
• Adopting best practices for locating missing participants and beneficiaries. 
• Selecting state unclaimed property funds that meet the minimum standards outlined in the policy.

• Unclaimed.org Holder Resources
• What is Unclaimed Property?
• Due Diligence
• Filing and Reporting
• Establishing a Compliance Plan
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Navigating an Audit

Videos are available to be streamed on NAUPA’s website and the National Association of State Treasurers YouTube channel.

• Pay or deliver property “contemporaneously” when reporting (12 Del. C. sec. 1152(a) (recently amended by S.B. 267));
• Report accurately only the securities intended to be reported;
• Do not report or remit worthless or non-transferable securities, until they become transferable or have gained value;
• Liquidate nontransferable securities with value, and report and remit the cash value;
• Do not report or remit OFAC-restricted property;
• Transfer shares only to the State’s Main securities account and do not create or transfer shares to “house” accounts; and
• Timely respond to all follow-up requests by OUP staff to resolve reporting issues.

Tangible Guidelines and Inventory Sheet

As a holder or stakeholder within the unclaimed property securities industry, the Arkansas Auditor of State’s office (the “Office” or “State”) would like to inform you that the Unclaimed Property Reporting Booklet (the “booklet”) was recently updated. 

There are updates that may affect the way you can transfer shares into the State’s custody; therefore, the Office wanted to place special emphasis on some of the most notable changes.  The updated instructions may be found on pages 8 through 11 of the booklet, linked here for your review. 

Recent changes to the booklet include:

1. A report of unclaimed property must be received before the Office will agree to accept any securities transferred to the State, with an exception for shares held within an individual retirement account which is subject to federal tax withholdings.
2. Shares transferred into the State’s account without prior approval may be rejected or DK’d.
3. Description of worthless securities updated, see booklet.
4. The following steps must be completed prior to reporting shares held in an IRA account:

1) Follow federal guidelines for tax withholdings as directed by the IRS.

2) Send prior notice as directed above indicating that the shares are held in an IRA account.

3) Complete the transfer of shares into the State’s account.

4) Submit your report of unclaimed property. This report must be received no later than 14 days after the shares have settled into the State’s account.

Note: The Office recommends an annual review of the booklet prior to report submission.  All changes to the booklet will not be communicated via email.

The State expects full compliance with these instructions.  To assist you in compliance with this directive, the Office is opting to extend the 2023 unclaimed property deadline to January 1, 2024 for holders ONLY within the securities industry which may be affected by the updates.

Please direct any questions you may have to our Compliance Section by email to holders@auditor.ar.gov or by phone to 501-371-2103.

With regards,

Holder Reporting, Receipts & Compliance Section

Arkansas Auditor of State – Unclaimed Property Division

1401 W. Capitol Ave., Ste. 325

Little Rock, AR  72201

• A 62-page draft of the revised file format.
• XML format and validation tools for software developer feedback.
• A feedback form for stakeholders to share thoughts and recommendations.

View the NAUPA III webpage.

The article identifies three significant dilemmas:

1. Property value is a key factor in unclaimed property due diligence, but cryptocurrencies are notoriously volatile.
2. Some states don’t accept escheated cryptocurrencies, and liquidating them can harm property owners.
3. Complying with new laws regarding virtual currencies and unclaimed property is difficult.

View the PaymentsJournal article.

While previous payment instructions will remain active during the transition, holders planning to remit payments by wire or ACH should contact OUP’s Receipts & Wires Unit to obtain the new payment instructions by email (preferred) DOF_holderreceiptsquestions@delaware.gov or by phone at (302) 577-8782, option #3.

• Nebraska will no longer accept HDE encrypted files.
• Holder payments will be available at the time of report submission.

Following is Nebraska's notice to holders:

The Nebraska Unclaimed Property Division will be completing a software conversion before the end of the month of August. Our office will no longer be accepting HDE encrypted files. Other report requirements, including a properly formatted NAUPA file, have not changed. While the software conversion is taking place, the Unclaimed Property Reporting website will not be accepting report submissions. This functionality will be down on our website from August 17th to August 24th.

You will see a new look to our website at the time of our software conversion…

Over the last year, the Unclaimed Property Division has been using the URL, NebraskaLostCash.gov. This URL will remain the same post conversion.

Holder reports are required to be submitted online, either through our website, NebraskaLostCash.gov or https://sovos.com/products/tax-reporting/unclaimed-property-reporting/upexchange/. This is not a new requirement, but serves as an important reminder. Reports will not be accepted on a CD or by paper.

With the launch of our updated website, the Nebraska Unclaimed Property Division will now offer online holder payments at the time you submit your report. This new feature will allow holders to submit reports through NebraskaLostCash.gov, then the website provides the option to complete a payment through an ACH debit transaction. This will allow holders submitting reports online and making an ACH payments to report completely paperless. Your report is not required to be notarized, so no paperwork will need to be mailed.

If a holder chooses not to pay electronically and plans to send a paper check, the confirmation page from your online report submission should be printed and mailed with the check for the report. Checks sent without a confirmation page could result in a delay in processing the report.

November 1st is the holder reporting deadline for non-life insurance holders.

Any questions related to holder reporting should be addressed to nst.upholderreporting@nebraska.gov.

View the new site at wv.findyourunclaimedproperty.com.

• Unclaimed property overview
• State requirements for reporting unclaimed property
• Responsibilities of a holder
• How to report unclaimed property
• How property is returned to rightful owners
• Manual Online Reporting system overview 

These webinars are an opportunity for general business entities, financial institutions, cooperatives and local and state government agencies to learn about unclaimed property compliance and how to report unclaimed property by the state’s July 1 deadline.

Registration is open for the dates listed below. Click on the appropriate date to register. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on joining the webinar.

General Business Entities

April 21, 1:30-3:30 p.m. CDT

May 5, 10 a.m.-noon* CDT

May 19, 1:30-3:30 p.m.* CDT

*Select this date from the drop-down menu at the top of the page.

Manual Online Reporting System

April 28, 10 a.m.-noon CDT

May 12, 1:30-3:30 p.m. CDT

May 26, 10 a.m.-noon CDT

NAUPA invites entities that provide a service to holders by creating the NAUPA file and industry specialists to attend. Participants will receive contact information to submit comments or suggestions for NAUPA to take under advisement as it takes on this project. 

Today, NAUPA provided UPPO with a current list of available extensions to share with our members. Questions should be directed to the appropriate state or territory.

Thank you to NAUPA Executive Director David Milby for his assistance gathering and sharing this information with UPPO.