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Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill [HL]

The noble Lord, Lord Shutt, raised an interesting point there. I completely understand the distinction as regards accounts that are pushed to suspense and that such accounts are treated as closed within the bank in order to deter fraud and other things. Those balances should be within the scheme, but if the bank or building society has been smart enough and chosen to transfer the money to profit, reserves or whatever in the past, do they come back again? I do not know how banks and building societies have accounted for such accounts, but I know how many other commercial organisations account for liabilities that hang around the balance sheet for a long time—they take them into profit.