Glossary

Abandoned Property Law
The New York State Abandoned Property Law can be found in McKinney’s Consolidated Laws of New York, Book 2 ½, or on the Internet at: http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us (“Laws of New York,” then “ABP Abandoned Property”).
Account
A record of financial transactions for individuals, such as with banks, brokerages, utility companies, credit card companies, retail stores, etc.
Aggregation
These are items valued at $20.00 or less and you must group the individual items into one aggregate amount for each property type.
Audit
An examination and verification of a company’s financial and accounting records along with supporting documents.
Blocked Accounts
The U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”) granted the New York State Comptroller a license to take custody of assets subject to New York’s Abandoned Property Law, but blocked under the Foreign Assets Control Regulations, Cuban Assets Control Regulations, or Foreign Funds Control Regulations. However, prior to taking custody of any such blocked accounts, the State Comptroller must first obtain OFAC’s written permission on a case-by case-basis.
Calendar of Events
The calendar indicates by article/section the type of business, report period ending/report cut-off date, applicability and associated due dates of negative and or preliminary reports, due date of final reports and remittances, applicability and associated due dates of publication and mailing requirements.
Claim
Notification to the NYS Office of Unclaimed Funds requesting payment for monies being held by the New York State Comptroller.
Claimant Services
Is comprised of several areas that process claims.
Compliance
Meeting the requirements of legislation and the rules and regulations of the New York State Abandoned Property Law.
Cuban Assets Control Regulations
Was issued by the U.S. Government on July 8, 1963, under the Trading With the Enemy Act in response to certain hostile actions by the Cuban government. The Regulations are administered by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC").
Detail Record
Consists of owner name, address, SSN or Empl. ID No, property type, property ID number, date dormancy began, multiple owners indicator, description of security, CUSIP number of security, number of shares or denomination, method of transfer, initial amount, escheated amount and removal indicator.
Dormancy Date
The most recent date that the owner and the holder of the property made "active" contact with each other. This is also known as the "date of last activity."
Due Diligence
Required effort by the company to contact the rightful owner of an unclaimed fund before it is sent to the state. Section 1422 of the Abandoned Property Law requires a first class mailing at least 90 days before the final report is due and a 2nd, certified mailing at least 60 days before the report due date when the funds have value over $1,000. Exceptions include known bad addresses, new contact from the owner, and known privacy issues. In addition, holders in some industries are required to publish in newspapers based on what property types are unclaimed.
Electronic Reporting (NYCD)
New York State Electronic Reporting Program is our NYCD software program that allows reporters to create their report and submit it using a disk or CD-rom.
Exemption
Holder is released from liability because they have proven that they are unable to comply with statutory or regulatory reporting requirements.
Extension
Unable to comply with any statutory or regulatory requirement in a timely manner to complete the required activity.
Federal Employer ID No
Employer Identification Number or EIN (also known as Federal Employer Identification Number or (FEIN) is the corporate equivalent of a Social Security Number.
Final Report
A final report is a complete, updated, detail listing of all accounts deemed abandoned as of the report period ending date.
Foreign Assets Control Regulation
The Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") of the US Department of the Treasury administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on US foreign policy and national security goals against targeted foreign countries and regimes, terrorists, international narcotics traffickers, those engaged in activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and other threats to the national security, foreign policy or economy of the United States.
Foreign Funds Control
OFAC is the successor to the Office of Foreign Funds Control (the ``FFC''), which was established at the advent of World War II following the German invasion of Norway in 1940.
FTP
A communications protocol governing the transfer of files from one computer to another over a network. (File Transfer Protocol)
Holders
Reporting Organizations
Items
Each detail record is an item.
McKinney's Consolidated Laws of New York
Internet at: http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us (“Laws of New York,” then “ABP Abandoned Property”).
NAUPA
National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators. Representing state governments that actively find owners while protecting forgotten funds until claimed.
Negative Report
A negative report is a statement attesting to the fact that you have reviewed your books and records and determined that there are no abandoned properties to report.
Notary's Certification
A Notary Public is a public servant appointed by state government to witness the signing of important documents and administer oaths.
NYCD
New York State Electronic Reporting Program is our NYCD software program that allows reporters to create their report and submit it using a disk or CD-rom.
OFAC
The Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") of the US Department of the Treasury administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on US foreign policy and national security goals against targeted foreign countries and regimes, terrorists, international narcotics traffickers, those engaged in activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and other threats to the national security, foreign policy or economy of the United States.
Penalties
Willfully filing false reports or making false verification is punishable under the provisions of the Abandoned Property Law, Section 1412.
Preliminary
A preliminary or initial report is a complete, listing all accounts deemed abandoned as of your report period ending date.
Property Types Table
This table indicates by property type, the property type code, relevant article/section of the Abandoned Property Law, description of the property and associated dormancy period.
Publication
Some sections of the statute require advertising names of property owners in publications in addition to the due diligence mailing requirements.
Reimbursement
The State Comptroller is empowered to return to reporting organizations any remitted property that, because of a mistake, error in calculation, or misinterpretation of the statute, has been paid to the State Comptroller.
Remittance
With each final report of abandoned property the applicable remittance must be sent to the Comptroller of the State of New York.
Report Types
There are three report types: Negative, Preliminary and Final.
Reporting Organization
Organizations that file abandoned property reports with New York State.
Reports Processing
Is comprised of several units that receive, prepare, balance and release abandoned property reports.
Retention Period
All organizations other than a broker or dealer need to retain records relating to abandoned property they are remitting to New York State for five years following December 31 of the year for which an Abandoned Property Report was filed. Broker/Dealers must retain their records for 10 years.
Rolling Up
You may combine amounts of $20.01 or greater payable to a single owner (or a group of owners) in a given year and reportable under the same property type. For example, 4 quarterly dividends can be reported as one item.
Securities
Securities escheated to New York State must be in the form of a physical certificate, Depository Trust Company (DTC) transfer, or book entry (statement).
Securities Management
Is comprised of several units that receive, reconcile and process for payment, security related items.
Service Bureaus
Organizations that file on behalf of other reporting organizations.
Third Party Holder
Holders incorporated, chartered, organized, or domiciled (in the case of a federally-charted bank) in New York are required to report all amounts and securities held for New York residents, foreign owners, and unknowns.
Verification and Checklist
Each report you submit must have its own Verification and Checklist. A Verification and Checklist (form AC2709) includes an organizations name, Federal Employer ID Number, contact name, signature, notary’s certification, summary totals, property types and media type.
Voluntary Compliance
Allows first-time reporters of abandoned property to report penalty free and, in some instances, holders who have filed in the past, but recognize that they have failed to report a particular type of property to voluntarily correct the error without penalty.
Waiver
A legal document releasing the publication requirement.
Year End Cut Off
This is a reporting deadline and varies based upon the Article and Section of New York State Abandoned Property Law you are filing under.