Bill – Author: Gabriel Stilman

Unclaimed Property in Financial Institutions and Development of the Third Sector (Argentine Republic)

Article 1. When, for more than three years, a client of an entity subject to Financial Institutions Law No. 21,526 and its amendments has carried out no transactions in any of the holdings, investments, funds, or assets of any nature held with the respective entity, and the entity has no record of effective contact by the client or the client’s successors or representatives during said period, the entity shall undertake reasonable efforts to reestablish contact with the client.

Article 2. If the total value of the holdings, investments, funds, or assets is less than ($500), the obligation under Article 1 shall be deemed satisfied by publishing, at least once, in the Official Gazette of the Argentine Republic, the full name or corporate name of the holder(s), the amount or value of the asset, and the branch of the financial institution where the assets are held.

Article 3. If five years elapse without any transactions by a client in any of the holdings, investments, funds, or assets of any nature, and there is no record of effective contact by the client during said period, the assets shall be transferred in custody, in their original currency in the case of sums of money, to Banco de la Nación Argentina. Banco de la Nación Argentina shall maintain these assets in the name of their respective holders, charging the same fees it charges for similar assets in its client portfolio. Cash sums shall accrue the prevailing passive rate for savings deposits.

Article 4. Where holdings, investments, funds, or assets are owned by more than one natural or legal person, the conditions described in the preceding articles for the obligations of financial institutions to arise must be met with respect to all co-holders of the asset in question.

Article 5. When transferring assets pursuant to Article 3, financial institutions shall inform Banco de la Nación Argentina of:

a) The full name or corporate name of the holder(s).

b) A description of the asset and its amount or market value at the time of transfer.

c) The holder’s last address, according to the records of the financial institution.

d) Where the client has notified the financial institution of a public-interest entity pursuant to Article 14 herein, the name of such entity.

e) Any other information deemed relevant to locating the holder of the assets or the holder’s successors.

Article 6. Assets subject to existing precautionary (injunctive) measures are exempt from the regime of this law.

Article 7. The Registry of Unclaimed Financial Assets is hereby created, to be administered by Banco de la Nación Argentina. The data referred to in items a), b), c) and d) of Article 5, as well as the date on which each asset was transferred to Banco de la Nación Argentina and the date of its first publication in the Registry, shall be recorded therein. The Registry shall be public, open, and free for consultation by any person, and the information it contains shall be made available via the internet, without prejudice to other means that may be designated.

Article 8. Banco de la Nación Argentina shall receive claims from those alleging rights to the assets published in the Registry, together with documents and evidence supporting such rights. If it considers that the right to an asset has been duly proven, it shall proceed with the corresponding payment. Claims and the regime governing their challenge are subject to private law.

Article 9. If an asset transferred under this law to Banco de la Nación Argentina is not claimed by any person within five years from its publication by Banco de la Nación Argentina, it shall be presumed abandoned by its holder(s) and shall be transferred in ownership to the National Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, after conversion into national currency.

Article 10. Where, due to difficulties or factual impossibility, the holder or the holder’s successors have been temporarily prevented from exercising their rights, judges are authorized to relieve them from the presumption of abandonment established in Article 9 and its consequences, provided that, after such impediment ceases, the holder or the holder’s successors assert their rights within three months.

Article 11. Assets transferred in ownership to the National Ministry of Education, Science and Technology shall be allocated to improving infrastructure and teacher training in primary education.

Article 12. The National Ministry of Education, Science and Technology shall publish and keep updated, including by digital means, information regarding the sums of money received under this Law and their allocation.

Article 13. No entity subject to Financial Institutions Law No. 21,526 and its amendments shall classify holdings, investments, funds, or assets under the heading “immobilized balances” or similar, nor may it charge fees or costs for services not actually provided.

Article 14. Any natural or legal person shall have the right, at any time, to notify the financial institution of which they are a client or Banco de la Nación Argentina of their wish that, in the event their assets are presumed abandoned under this law, the transfer provided in Article 9 be made in favor of an entity registered in the National Registry of Public-Interest Entities or in any Registry of Public-Interest Entities maintained by a Province or Municipality. In such cases, Banco de la Nación Argentina shall carry out the transfer provided in Article 9 in favor of the public-interest entity designated by the client, provided that the public-interest entity:

a) Accepts the transfer. Acceptance of the transfer shall imply the public-interest entity’s agreement that the information in its records is of a public nature and that the entity is subject to the right of access to public information under Article 2 of the General Regulations on Access to Public Information for the National Executive Branch approved as Annex II of Decree 1172/2003.

b) Makes its accounts public and keeps them updated, including by digital means, detailing the sums of money received under this law and their allocation.

Article 15. For the purposes of the notification provided in the preceding article, every adhesion contract between a client and an entity subject to Law 21,526 shall include a clause to be completed with the name of the public-interest entity indicated by the client or the designation of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

Article 16. If, for any reason, it is not possible or does not proceed to make the transfer provided in Article 9 in favor of a public-interest entity designated by the client, the transfer shall be made in favor of the National Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

Article 17. Add the following as Article 39 bis of Financial Institutions Law No. 21,526 and its amendments:

Article 39 bis. The information that financial institutions must transmit to the Registry of Unclaimed Financial Assets pursuant to the applicable laws is also exempt from the duty of secrecy.