Pretoria: The National Treasury has opened the floor for public commentary on a significant proposal aimed at centralising unclaimed financial assets in South Africa, valued at an estimated R88 billion as of 2022. These assets encompass dormant bank accounts, unclaimed retirement benefits, and unpaid dividends, among others.
According to South African Government News Agency, the proposed regulatory framework outlines the establishment of a central administrator to oversee the record-keeping and tracing of asset owners and beneficiaries. The National Treasury, in its statement on Thursday, indicated that the proposal considers either creating a new entity or appointing an existing administrator to manage these responsibilities.
The reforms are designed to enhance the identification, tracing, and disbursement of unclaimed financial assets, while ensuring a uniform national strategy for managing these assets. Financial institutions currently holding unclaimed assets would be mandated to transfer them to the central administrator, with investments handled by the Corporation for Public Deposits (CPD), a subsidiary of the South African Reserve Bank.
The Treasury's statement highlighted that this centralized approach aims to replace the current fragmented system, improving information consolidation, tracing efforts, and safeguarding unclaimed assets until rightful claims are made. By investing with the CPD, the model is also expected to reduce administrative costs that erode asset value.
Implementation of these reforms will occur in phases, starting with unclaimed retirement benefits, and eventually include other sectors. Titled 'A Framework to Centralise Unclaimed Financial Assets in South Africa', the discussion paper builds on previous reports by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA).
National Treasury is soliciting written comments on the discussion paper, with a submission limit of 10 pages. Interested parties are encouraged to send their feedback to Ms Alvinah Thela at [email protected] by 19 September 2026.