Sessions explain businesses’ responsibilities, new rules on reporting property
August 31, 2026 (Little Rock) – Auditor of State Dennis Milligan will host his 3rd annual educational seminar Tuesday on how businesses can and should report unclaimed property to his office. Businesses and financial institutions are required by Arkansas’ Unclaimed Property law to report abandoned assets to the state auditor’s office each year.
“We will offer educational sessions to CPAs and other finance professionals that will explain what their responsibilities are as holders of unclaimed property and how to stay in compliance with the law,” Milligan said. “It is important for businesses to understand so they avoid unnecessary penalties.”
The five sessions, which will be broadcast live on YouTube, include the Fundamentals of Arkansas Unclaimed Property; Identifying Reportable Property & Due Diligence; Preparing & Filing a Holder Report; Compliance, Audits & Best Practices; and Protecting & Managing Arkansas’ Mineral Interests. There will also be a special presentation on Arkansas’ New Administrative Rules approved by the Legislative Council last November. In-person attendees will earn five Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits.
Providing the training online is helpful for financial professionals across the country, said National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA) Director Jeremy Dawson.
“By offering hybrid holder seminars, Arkansas is removing geographical barriers and making compliance as accessible as possible for businesses across the country,” Dawson said. “Whether attending in person to connect directly with experts or tuning in online, holders receive the vital guidance they need to fulfill statutory requirements and help state programs return unclaimed funds to its rightful owners.”
Milligan outlined one issue he hopes to address during the seminar: missing owner information.
“When submitting reports of unclaimed property to my office, the more information businesses and financial institutions can provide to us, the better,” Milligan said, adding that some companies report assets that include no personally identifiable information.
“When properties are reported in aggregate – lumped together as a sum – identifying information about each owner is often not disclosed. So we end up with an aggregate property that has several owners who are altogether owed $100,000 with no way of returning those monies to Arkansans. This is something I hope to address in the upcoming legislative session.”
Milligan also plans to talk about digital assets during the seminar and how they will eventually be reported to his office.
“Nationally, there is a push by the cryptocurrency lobby to force states to hold these assets digitally rather than cashing them,” Milligan said. “This would create a substantial cost increase to states as most unclaimed property programs aren’t equipped to manage cryptocurrency. Moreover, it isn’t federally regulated like traditional securities, meaning there aren’t safeguards in place to protect consumers from losing these assets.”
Protecting claimants’ property rights is the basis behind states’ unclaimed property programs. These programs are designed to ensure that property is safeguarded and ultimately returned to its rightful owners.
To watch Arkansas’ Unclaimed Property seminar on the web, interested persons can visit https://youtube.com/live/vntdGk8jsKM?feature=share.
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Dennis Milligan was elected Auditor of State in 2022. The Auditor’s office is responsible for ensuring payroll for more than 700 state government elected officials, Supreme Court justices, prosecuting attorneys and deputy prosecutors. The office also administers the state’s Unclaimed Property Program, The Great Arkansas Treasure Hunt. Learn more at https://auditor.ar.gov/.
Auditor Milligan speaks to a group of attendees during a previous unclaimed property seminar.