The Xunta will require banks to report abandoned balances from twenty years ago

The Department of Finance and Public Administration will require financial entities operating in Galicia to report deposits, balances, and movable assets abandoned for twenty years, which will be incorporated into the assets of the Autonomous Community. The Order of September 25, 2026, which regulates this procedure, was published in the Official Gazette of Galicia (DOG) number 190, on October 6, 2026, within section III of other provisions.

The regulation develops the mandate of article 89.4 of Law 6/2023, of November 2, on the assets of the Autonomous Community of Galicia, which assigns to the regional Administration the securities, money, and other movable assets deposited in credit institutions, securities companies or agencies, as well as the balances of current accounts, savings books, or similar instruments for which the holders have not carried out any action implying the exercise of their right of ownership within a period of twenty years. The order is signed by the counselor Miguel Corgos López-Prado and consists of nine articles divided into three chapters, two additional provisions, one transitional provision, and three final provisions.

The text fits into the structure established by Decree 141/2024, of May 20, which places treasury competencies in the General Secretariat for Technical Affairs and the Treasury and asset competencies in the General Directorate for Administrative Simplification and Assets. The order was subject to a public hearing with financial entities and includes the mandatory reports, including those from the Agency for Technological Modernization of Galicia, the General Directorate of Budgets and Regional Financing, and the Legal Advisory.

What entities must report

The communication is unique per entity and covers balances, deposits, and movable assets abandoned in any of its offices or branches in Galicia, provided that the period and circumstances of article 89.1 of Law 6/2023 are met. If no assets of this nature exist, the entity must expressly indicate so in the form.

The complementary file collects, according to the type of asset, the following data:

• Cash deposits and current accounts: account code, identification of the holder and NIF, date of the last operation or constitution, and balance on that date.
• Negotiable securities, public debt, and other financial instruments: type of instrument, securities account code, issuing entity and its NIF, number of securities, unit nominal value, and average quotation.
• Movable assets in deposit and safety deposit boxes: contract code, identification of the depositor, office or branch, and date of last access.

Deadlines, form, and prior notification

Submission must be electronic via the standardized form (Annex I), available on the electronic office of the Xunta de Galicia, under procedure code FA700B. The deadline is the first calendar quarter of each year, and the communication is addressed to the competent management center for treasury matters, although the office remains open from the date the order enters into force.

Before communicating the assets, the entity must notify the holder, at least three months before the legal deadline expires, by burofax or an analogous means of no higher cost and equivalent effectiveness. This notification is not required when its cost exceeds the amount of the balances or assets affected. Administrative notifications shall be carried out only electronically through the Notifica.gal system.

Judicial balances and transitional regime

The second additional provision extends the regime to waived balances and funds provisionally abandoned during the processing of judicial proceedings in the courts and tribunals of Galicia. The competent treasury body will enable a specific account, and the provisions of Article 14 of Royal Decree 467/2006, of April 21, regarding judicial deposits and consignments, shall be followed. The prescription announcement will be published in the Official State Gazette, the Official Gazette of Galicia, and on the department’s website.

The sole transitional provision establishes that communications pending since December 3, 2023, the date of entry into force of Law 6/2023, must be submitted within a period of three months from the day following the entry into force of this order, with one communication for each year. The order will enter into force twenty days after its publication in the DOG.

The regulation closes the administrative circuit so that savings forgotten for two decades cease to be blocked in entities and instead reinforce the Galician public heritage, while simultaneously obliging banks to notify holders before transferring the funds to the Treasury of the Autonomous Community.

Source: Official Gazette of Galicia, no. 190, October 6, 2026, section III, pp. 51574-51586 (official reference: CVE-DOG sdb7vkh1-vlt3-ddj9-2qx1-gxxnqqjcybp1).