Chesapeake System Solutions Offers Outsourced Unclaimed Property Service

05/19/2010

Chesapeake Leverages Its UPCS Software and Corporate Expertise to Ease Firms’ Unclaimed Property Compliance Burden

Owings Mills, Md. - Chesapeake System Solutions, Inc (www.chessys.com), a premier provider of integrated financial governance, risk and compliance software solutions to the world’s foremost enterprises, announced today that it is offering outsourced unclaimed property compliance services to assist firms in mitigating the risk of noncompliance with state laws. This new service leverages Chesapeake’s 15+ years of expertise in developing and licensing the premier unclaimed property management application on the market today - Chesapeake’s Unclaimed Property Compliance System (UPCS®) - as well as providing a hosted version of its UPCS solution for a number of years. Currently, over 800 companies rely on UPCS to manage their unclaimed property function in strict compliance with the diverse rules of all 54 reporting jurisdictions.

In the current economic environment, states and territories are increasing their focus on regulatory compliance.  Thus, government enforcement via audits and other monitoring activities is on the rise. Firms are finding that failure to be in compliance can be costly, especially since no statute of limitation applies to unreported property. The civil penalties, criminal fines and provisions established by the Uniformed Unclaimed Property Act can be substantial for firms who fail to report or report inaccurately.  Virtually every organization must address the issue of unclaimed property. Property encompasses all types of financial instruments: uncashed checks of every kind (payroll, security deposit, vendor payments); estate proceeds; safe deposit box contents; dormant bank accounts; insurance policy payments; stock shares and dividends; mutual fund earnings; etc. Yet, compliance is difficult due to jurisdictions' wide-ranging regulations for dormancy periods, due diligence requirements, reporting and payment. It is a labor-intensive process for a firm to stay current with regulatory changes and to fulfill their many requirements. Mark Vogel, UPCS Senior Product Manager, Chesapeake System Solutions, says, "Chesapeake’s outsourced unclaimed property service gives companies the peace of mind that comes from turning over a complicated, labor-intensive function to an acknowledged expert in the field. Chesapeake possesses a highly skilled operations staff experienced  in the nuances of unclaimed property management and well versed in all aspects of our UPCS software—the very software many public accounting firms and other vendors currently license for use in their unclaimed property management activities. Chesapeake, as the software developer, can offer outsourced services specifically tailored to a firm’s unique business requirements and provide the most cost-effective solution for full compliance, while not sacrificing data access or day-to-day oversight capability."

Chesapeake’s UPCS outsourcing services include the following:

  • Comprehensive analysis of the client’s current policies and procedures for reporting unclaimed property
  • Assistance with the identification of an organization’s sources of unclaimed property
  • Development of an unclaimed property reporting guide tailored to the organization  
  • Production of all due-diligence letters
  • Delivery of signature-ready reports for all 54 jurisdictions
  • Production of summary and detail reports specifying all unclaimed property reported
  • Provision of tools to view and print Chesapeake-produced reports
  • Online access to unclaimed property information for inquiry purposes

About Chesapeake System Solutions, Inc.

Chesapeake System Solutions is an industry leader in providing integrated software solutions that simplify the complexities of financial and treasury management operations. Headquartered in Owings Mills, Maryland, Chesapeake provides integrated financial governance, risk and compliance solutions to the world’s foremost enterprises. Chesapeake’s integrated suite of software solutions brings visibility and control to the processes of balance sheet reconciliation, risk management and compliance, while intuitive design features simplify financial data reporting, workflow management, financial oversight and close. Since 1993, Chesapeake’s applications have helped national and international organizations of every size improve productivity, lower costs and document compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley, PCI Standards and other regulations. For more information about Chesapeake and its solutions, please visit www.chessys.com or call 410-356-6805.