Dormant accounts in Switzerland

It might happen that when the account holder dies without leaving any trail of his contact details for a long time,specially in times of sudden death, the bank would try to establish contact with the client without violating secrecy law. Should the banks search turn into an unsuccessful one, it would wait for atleast 10 years to hear from the account holder. If this also fails, then the bank will change the status of bank account from 'active' to 'dormant' and special provisions apply. If the account holder had nominated a beneficiary on account of his death, then the assets held will be transferred to the named beneficiary. The descendents can also claim the 'dormant' assets if they know where exactly the assets were held and which bank. Normally bank would ask for some paper work like death certificate etc. of the account holder. Ironically, the real problem is, it is very difficult to locate a particular bank account, in switzerland as there are about 400 banks in switzerland. You cannot just simply walk into a bank and ask 'Whether this person X is having an account with you?'. There are a list of dormant account holder names published in www.dormantaccounts.ch

To make a search on dormant assets held in accounts opened with Swiss banks by non-Swiss nationals or residents after May 9, 1945 please contact the Ombudsman of the Swiss Banks is an impartial source of information and an intermediary whose services are free of charge.

Swiss Banking Ombudsman
Schweizergasse 21
P.O. Box 1818
CH-8021 Zurich
Tel.: (011) 411 - 213 14 50
Fax: (011) 411 - 210 37 20

If someone suspects that he or she might be entitled to assets held by a Swiss bank, but does not know which one, a search can be initiated through the Contact Office attached to the Ombudsman. A search questionnaire can be obtained from:

Contact Office for the Swiss Banks
P.O. Box 1818
CH-8021 Zurich
Switzerland

http://www.dormantaccounts.ch
http://www.swissbanking.org
http://www.bankingombudsman.ch

How to prevent your swiss bank account from becoming dormant

1. Change of Name & Address
Please inform your bank immediately if you change your address, or if you use a different name, e.g. following marriage.

2. Special Instructions
Inform your bank if you go away for an extended period of rime and arrange for correspondence from your bank to be sent to a third party or kept
at the bank during your absence.

3. Designating Proxy
It is generally advisable to designate a proxy or representative with full power of attorney who can be contacted by your bank should your assets become “dormant”.

4. Informing Trusted Persons
Another possibility to avoid dormant assets is to inform a trusted person about your bank details. The bank can only give information to such a person if you have first authorised him or her in writing to act on your behalf. You could also list your assets and the name of the respective bank(s) where they are deposited in your will.