May 9, 1989
TO: CLOSED-END FUND MEMBERS NO. 21-89
OPERATIONS MEMBERS NO. 17-89
SEC RULES MEMBERS NO. 26-89
UNIT INVESTMENT TRUST MEMBERS NO. 26-89
ACCOUNTING/TREASURERS MEMBERS NO. 3-89
AD HOC COMMITTEE ON UNCLAIMED PROPERTY
RE: LOCATING LOST SHAREHOLDERS
__________________________________________________________
The investment company industry's need to prevent
shareholder accounts from becoming abandoned and to re-activate
accounts that appear abandoned has grown increasingly more
important due to the recent coordinated efforts of the states to
enforce reporting and the surrender of escheatable property. To
assist the industry in this regard, a number of Operations
Committee members have furnished the Institute with procedures
they follow in attempting to locate lost shareholders.
The attached list is a compilation of those procedures as
well as descriptions of search services available from the Social
Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service. Also
on the list is a locate service offered by CBI Equifax, a private
credit bureau, which was recently tested by an Operations
Committee member with promising results. We have not included
information on traditional heir finding firms, of which there are
several, as we do not have up-to-date information on their
success and actual costs relative to locating lost shareholders.
Often these firms may retain or may attempt to retain a portion
of the abandoned property when a missing shareholder is found.
The Institute wishes to augment this list with additional
search procedures and locate services as they are developed and
found to be successful. Therefore, please supply the undersigned
with any information that would be a useful and appropriate
addition to the list so we may inform the rest of the membership.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Donald J. Boteler
Director of Operations/
Fund Accounting
Attachment