British Columbia ANNUAL REPORT unclaimedpropertybc.ca

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1 British Columbia Unclaimed Property Society ANNUAL REPORT 2013 unclaimedpropertybc.ca

2 Reuniting Forgotten Dollars with their Rightful Owners Message from the Chair and Executive Director At the BC Unclaimed Property Society (BCUPS) it has always been our goal to reunite British Columbians with their unclaimed funds. We remain committed to providing individuals and organizations with professional, efficient and responsive services as they search for, claim and remit funds. A concerted effort to increase compliance among companies holding unclaimed funds resulted in BCUPS receiving $8,460,206 on behalf of British Columbians in This sum represents a 16% increase in funds received from the previous year. In 2013, BCUPS received 18,026 individual properties from holders of unclaimed funds which were subsequently entered into our searchable database. This amount represents a 309% increase from the previous year. Due to the growing amount of funds deposited with BCUPS in 2013, we were able to increase our allocation for charitable initiatives to the Vancouver Foundation by almost 33%. Over the years, we have established strong relationships with a variety of organizations that hold unclaimed funds throughout British Columbia. These organizations regularly express their appreciation for our services and continue to transfer their unclaimed funds to us. They view our searchable website as a valuable resource to help them locate owners in a cost-efficient manner. In our continuing efforts to improve our service, we undertook the following initiatives in 2013: Finalized IT strategic plan which will increase processing efficiency; Negotiated and processed a major transaction of unclaimed property from a large financial institution; and Entered into discussions with a large holder of unclaimed property which is expected to result in a new revenue stream for BCUPS. We pride ourselves on reuniting rightful owners with their unclaimed property, while simultaneously assisting companies to remit these funds. We look forward to providing this valuable service to British Columbians in Floyd Murphy Chair, Board of Directors Alena Levitz Executive Director In 2003 the Province of British Columbia entered into an agreement with Vancouver Foundation to administer the unclaimed property program. The BC Unclaimed Property Society, which is controlled by the Foundation, acts as the administrator under the provincial Unclaimed Property Act.

3 2013 Paid Claims $924,602 in properties reunited with their lawful owners Snapshot Total money returned to people with unclaimed property $924,602 $1,082,591 Total properties received from companies and organizations 18,026 4,409 Total money received from companies and organizations $8,460,206 $7,298,906* Total amount donated to Vancouver Foundation $3,590,000 $2,704, Submissions Financial Institutions $ 3,331,592 $ 362,490 Estates $ 2,509,559 $ 1,080,896 Courts $ 1,651,267 $ 4,683,456 Money order $ 429,957 $ 50 Employment Standards $ 250,838 $ 360,214 Securities $ 137,539 $ 54,605 Real Estate $ 37,355 $ 94,350 Debt Overpayment $ 26,646 $ 25,487 Closed Pensions $ 23,583 $ 295,172 Life Insurance $ 23,215 $ 5,322 Deposits - not savings $ 18,082 $ 14,469 Mineral Rights $ 10,313 $ 16,207 Trust Funds $ 3,721 $ - Local Government Taxes $ 3,604 $ 37,475 Un-administered Estates $ 2,264 $ 86,994 Property Insurance $ 672 $ 144 Companies in liquidation $ - $ 180,208 Residential Tenancy Act $ - $ 1,367 Total $ 8,460,206 $ 7,298,906 Note *: Funds received during the 2012 fiscal year totaled $7,320,955 as shown in the audited financial statements. However, actual funds received in 2012 totaled $7,298,906, as detailed above. This discrepancy is due to the receipt of additional interest on select files received from the Public Guardian & Trustee of British Columbia.

4 Educating holders of unclaimed property Many companies don t know their legal obligations regarding the unclaimed property on their books. They also don t know the compelling business case for transferring unclaimed property to the BC Unclaimed Property Society. Under the British Columbia Unclaimed Property Act companies are obliged to try and find the owners of unclaimed property. If they aren t successful, the companies are required to maintain a database that is available to the public in order to facilitate the return of the unclaimed property to the owner. Companies have to deal with inquiries from potential owners, and substantiate claims. This takes time, money and resources. Moreover, unclaimed property sitting on company books is unattractive to potential buyers. The BC Unclaimed Property Society takes over the legal obligation on behalf of holders of unclaimed property, for free. Our office continues to educate holders about this valuable service.

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