Risk Assessment & Liability Reduction

Identifying & Mitigating Unclaimed Property Risks & Liabilities

What’s the underlying cause of your unclaimed property issues?

risk-reward-large Because state offices were lax in enforcement of unclaimed property and escheatment laws for years, many companies do not have built-in policies and processes to ensure compliance. Holder organizations often don’t suspect they are out of compliance until they acquire a subsidiary, hear about unclaimed property in the news or receive notice of an audit. Some escheat more than they need to by law. The results in either case can be costly and stressful.

MarketSphere long ago identified early assessment as an important step to identify gaps, polish compliance processes and policies and mitigate audit risks. Using results of an assessment, you’ll establish proper escheatment practices, which can lead to a reduction of management costs, escheatment amounts and audit penalties. Assessment can even help improve general recordkeeping, streamline day-to-day operation and help protect a company’s reputation.

Problems with due diligence and reporting are symptoms of deeper issues that won’t go away on their own. Get to the root of your unclaimed property problems. Address underlying causes through professional risk assessment.

“Don’t chase the cattle, fix the fence.”

Too much focus on surface problems, rather than digging into underlying causes of UP is like the farmer who keeps having to round up the cattle because he hasn’t fixed the latch on the fence. MarketSphere’s aim is to help you fix the fence.

— Don DeCelles, MarketSphere Unclaimed Property

Why MarketSphere?

MarketSphere was first in the industry to create proprietary technology that helps holders manage unwieldy unclaimed property and escheatment demands. We have continued to modify technology tools to fit changing client needs and keep up with the industry. From the beginning, we’ve captured information about customers’ unclaimed property experiences, and now we offer the best historical data in the industry to help anticipate your future unclaimed property risks.

Another MarketSphere technology, the Just Right Refund^® Analyzer Tool, automatically analyzes exemptions, reviewing and comparing your records with state statutes, so you pay only what you owe—and maybe even regain past overpayments.

Steps of unclaimed property risk assessment

We use our team’s extensive knowledge and experience to help you uncover common mistakes, identify solutions and leverage all potential advantages.

Gain a thorough understanding of the client’s business and industry, including all units and locations, policies and procedures, methods of accounting and operations
Discover how the client identifies and documents unclaimed property of all forms; uncover previously unidentified unclaimed property that an auditor might discover
Clarify client’s methods for completing due diligence, reporting and escheatment
Analyze client ledgers, reports, procedures
Assess client strengths and weaknesses, identifying gaps in processes and potential risks
Recommend a course of action

We Can Help You:

Balance appropriate level of risk with reasonable cost responsibility
Develop comprehensive risk mitigation strategies
Create a documentation plan and regular reviews
Train staff, set up records and keep up with changing laws
Minimize the burden on staff and resources
Find peace of mind: 100% accuracy, transparent records, continuous access to staff, secure records transfer and redundancy, insured escrow

the invisible plan navigating & negotiating unclaimed property for least impact

I was particularly pleased with the way your team conducted this work with minimal impact to our personnel.

First Vice President and Controller in the Mortgage Broker Industry