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Stakeholders invited to review revised rule for Unclaimed Property Program

Unclaimed Property.

The Financial and Consumer Services Commission (FCNB) has revised one of its proposed rules for a new program intended to help connect New Brunswickers with their lost or forgotten money or monetary property.

Under new legislation, New Brunswick businesses and government entities or a person holding lost or forgotten money will be required to attempt to locate the owners and, if unsuccessful, to report and remit the money to the Unclaimed Property Program.

FCNB, which will administer the program, is inviting stakeholders to review the rule, which was revised based on feedback following a comment period last fall. The revised rule and the process for providing comments was posted online today for a 30-day comment period.

“We want to thank all those who contributed during our prior consultations,” said Andrew Nicholson, the Commission’s Director of Unclaimed Property. “We received insightful feedback and have worked over the last few months to adjust the rule where appropriate.” 

FCNB estimates thousands of dollars go unclaimed every year in the province. In British Columbia, for example, its unclaimed property program returned $2.7 million to rightful owners in 2019. Under the program, people, businesses and other entities holding this money will be relieved of the expense and liability of carrying the property on their books and records. Once the program is in place, New Brunswickers will be able to use a free online tool to search for and claim their unclaimed property that has been remitted to the program. 

The comment period will close on June 19.