Bad luck if you have a bond on a lease ... belongs to Swan now.
"...Accountant Bryan Lukav oversaw an account for a client that contained the bond for a commercial property. He was advised to withdraw or deposit at least $1. If he didn’t, he was told the government could seize the account.
Mr Lukav said the change would make life difficult for people in business who used these kind of accounts. Trusts and long-term savings accounts are also likely to be caught up in the sweep.
“Imagine if I was looking after 200 property accounts and I had to do that for every one,” Mr Lukav said. “It’s just ridiculous. The bond could sit here for the period of the lease, which could be five, 10 or 25 years and there is no need to withdraw or deposit.”
Westpac Banking Corp told customers in a recent letter: “We encourage you to transact (even a minimum of $1.00) on the account listed above within the next 72 hours otherwise you may be at risk of having the balance in this account transferred to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which will occur on ASIC’s request.”
