Brazilians withdrew R$ 241 million in payments due in December.
Although the system's funds were transferred to the National Treasury in October, withdrawals can still occur through legal action.
WELLTON MÁXIMO, REPORTER FOR AGÊNCIA BRASIL - Brazilians withdrew R$ 241 million in forgotten funds from the financial system in December, the Central Bank (BC) announced on Tuesday (11). Although the money from the Values Receivable System (SVR) was transferred to the National Treasury in October, withdrawals can occur through legal actions, until the Treasury publishes a notice with the new rules for withdrawal.
Regarding the stock of forgotten funds, by the end of December, Brazilians had not withdrawn R$ 9,047 billion in forgotten resources from the financial system. The SVR (Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission) returned R$ 9,175 billion, out of a total of R$ 18,222 billion made available by financial institutions.
The SVR statistics are released with a two-month delay, due to the updating of new sources of funds previously overlooked in the financial system. If the funds are not claimed within the next 25 years, the amounts receivable will be permanently incorporated into the Union's assets.
Despite the transfer to the Treasury, the statistics will continue to be updated, with the inclusion of data that was previously outdated. The data for January, the third month after the money was transferred to the Treasury, will only be presented at the beginning of March.
Regarding the number of beneficiaries, by the end of December, 27.843.566 account holders had redeemed funds. Although this figure exceeds 27 million, it represents only 36,26% of the total of 76.796.085 account holders included on the list since the program began in February 2022.
Among those who withdrew funds by the end of December, 25.625.539 are individuals and 2.218.027 are legal entities. Among those who have not yet made a withdrawal, 45.040.100 are individuals and 3.912.419 are legal entities.
Most individuals and businesses that did not withdraw funds are entitled to small amounts. Amounts up to R$10 account for 65,26% of beneficiaries. Amounts between R$10,01 and R$100 represent 23,38% of account holders. Amounts between R$100,01 and R$1 represent 9,64% of clients. Only 1,72% are entitled to receive more than R$1.
After being offline for almost a year, the SVR (Unified Refund System) reopened in March 2023 with new funding sources, a new scheduling system, and the possibility of recovering funds belonging to deceased individuals. Withdrawals were interrupted after the transfer of unclaimed funds to the National Treasury.
The transfer to the Treasury was made to compensate for the extension of the payroll tax exemption until 2027. The approximately R$ 9 billion will be part of the R$ 55 billion that will enter the government's coffers to cover the extension of the benefit, but the decision will rest with the Supreme Federal Court (STF), which will judge a lawsuit questioning the constitutionality of the return to the Treasury.
IMPROVEMENTS - Since September, the Central Bank has allowed closed companies to check their balances in the SVR system. However, redemption could not be done through the system; the legal representative of the closed company had to send the necessary documentation to the financial institution.
Since companies with inactive CNPJs do not have digital certificates, access was not possible before. This is because queries to the SVR are made exclusively through the Gov.br account.
Now the legal representative can access the SVR with the Gov.br personal account (gold or silver) and sign a liability waiver to consult the values. The solution applied is similar to the access to consult the values of deceased persons.
SOURCES OF FUNDS - In 2023, forgotten sources of funds that were not in the 2022 batches were included. These included closed prepaid or postpaid payment accounts, closed registration accounts held by brokers and distributors, and other funds available at the institutions for return.
In addition to these sources, the SVR includes the following amounts, already available for withdrawals last year. They are as follows: closed checking or savings accounts; capital quotas and apportionment of net surpluses of former members of credit unions; Unsought resources from closed consortium groups; unduly charged fees; and installments or expenses of credit operations unduly charged.
SCAMS - The Central Bank advises account holders to be wary of scams perpetrated by fraudsters who claim to act as intermediaries for the supposed recovery of forgotten funds, even when withdrawals have been suspended. The institution emphasizes that all services related to "Amounts Receivable" are completely free and that it does not send... exclusive links nor does it contact you to deal with receivables or to confirm personal data.
The BC also clarifies that only the financial institution that appears in the consultation of the Values Receivable System can contact the citizen. The body also asks that no citizen provide passwords and clarifies that no one is authorized to make such a request.
