UFAA managing trustee and CEO John Mwangi said the inclusion of beneficiaries through a provision allowing the donation of assets will lower the accumulation of unclaimed assets in its trust fund.
“For beneficiaries, we have had administrators of estates and would depend on their instructions to pay claims to beneficiaries. For us to have powers on beneficiary claims, this had to be based on law,” he said on Wednesday.
“Currently, you might find that you have unclaimed assets but for one reason or another, you may want to donate the assets to a certain cause.”
A person claiming an interest in any assets paid or delivered to the UFAA is required to file a claim with the authority.
UFAA takes up to 90 days to process the claims and give notice to the claimant of its decision.
The amendment to the unclaimed financial assets legislation has preceded a broader overhaul of the UFAA Act which is set primarily on making it easy for claimants to be paid.
Currently, all claims require the same process, making it cumbersome for individuals with small value claims on the fund which largely puts off most people from going after their idle assets.
In addition to improving the claims and settlement process, UFAA is looking to overhaul penalties levelled on holders of idle assets, noting the sanctions are often draconian and prohibitive.
“Holders have been complaining about stiff penalties which if you calculate as per the Act, the penalties sometimes exceed the value of the assets, which would be unconstitutional,” added Mr Mwangi.
Failure to pay or deliver assets and penalties attracts daily fines of between Sh7,000 and Sh50,000.
