There are over a billion euros in savings certificates at risk of expiration. These funds are largely due to outdated accounts or deceased account holders.
The Tribunal de Contas (TdC) has flagged risks of expiration involving savings and treasury certificates amounting to 1.174 billion euros, partly because the IGCP cannot disburse payments to families due to immobilized accounts or deceased holders.
The identified risks include 603 million euros in debt stock, “pertaining to instruments owned by 16,782 holders (deceased or with other balances held by IGCP, immobilized or pending),” as well as 494 million in debt stock related to 56,759 accounts without cross-referable information with the Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado (IRN).
Additionally, there are 77 million euros held by the Treasury and Public Debt Management Agency – IGCP (47 million in immobilized accounts and 30 million pending), belonging to 6,710 holders, which the agency cannot disburse either due to payment execution issues or because of the decease of the holder.
What if no action is taken? Who benefits from the funds?
“Without targeted measures for these balances, the amounts at issue will remain with the IGCP until
they expire, after which they should be transferred to the Public Debt Regularization Fund (FRDP),” according to the TdC report.
The FRDP, it should be noted, “is a non-personalized autonomous fund tasked with promoting the amortization of public debt and regulating the supply and demand of public debt securities in the secondary market, following the monetary and public debt management policy directives set by the Minister of Finance and Public Administration,” as outlined in the law.
The majority of this sum is associated with series C savings certificates, noting “the main share of these amounts held by the IGCP pertains to deceased holders, but significant amounts exist for other reasons“.
There are immobilized accounts, which may also be due to court orders or seizures, while in pending accounts, there are difficulties associated with closed accounts and IBAN issues.
From this Monday, a new mandatory validation process for the Tax Identification Number (NIF) / bank account number (IBAN) associated with savings accounts will be implemented.
Notícias ao Minuto | 08:13 – 20/10/2025
The TdC also highlights that these 77 million “are not reflected in the State’s General Account (CGE) as they should be, under ‘payable obligations'”.
Without action, families lose money
In the 2024 CGE report released by the TdC, an alert is issued that “without the relaxation of some rules and an effective communication strategy, the savings certificate conversion process could result in interest loss for families“.
The pressing issue pertains to the rules of converting savings certificate securities into scriptural format between January 5, 2026, and November 29, 2029, which “could mean the automatic redemption of series A and B securities, ceasing to accrue interest from that date”.
According to the TdC, savings certificate holders “will need to deliver the physical securities (series A, B, C, and D), failing which by November 29, 2029, the titles of series A and B, although perpetual, will be automatically redeemed and stop accruing interest from that date, even for holders with an updated savings account”.
From January 5, 2026, savings certificate holders should request their conversion to digital format, submitting the physical securities at CTT stores or other locations to be announced by IGCP.
Notícias ao Minuto | 09:31 – 26/02/2025
