Those who place their valuables in safety deposit boxes are often just as concerned about privacy as they are about security – but what is a financial institution to do if a depositor leaves their box to moulder and cannot be traced? The High Court addressed that issue in an important decision for the banking industry.
The case concerned over 100 safety deposit boxes that were kept in an international bank’s London branch. The oldest of the boxes was opened in 1900 and the most recent in 1994. In most cases, the names of the original depositors were known but extensive efforts to trace them, their heirs or anyone else who might be entitled to the boxes’ contents had thus far failed.
The bank had no desire to keep the contents of the boxes any longer and asserted that it was under no obligation to do so. If owners could not be traced, it wished to dispose of the boxes’ contents, by sale if possible. Concerned to ensure that it was acting lawfully, the bank sought a court order authorising it to take that course.
Following a preliminary hearing, the Court granted permission for the bank to open the boxes on the basis that inspecting their contents might provide useful information concerning the identity of potential owners. The bank undertook to pay damages to any person who was adversely affected by the inspection process.
Given the difficulty in identifying owners, the Court ruled that the proceedings could, where necessary, be issued against unnamed defendants. Notice of the claim would be displayed in the room where the boxes were located and anyone who contacted the bank in relation to the matter would be formally served with the proceedings. The bank was not required to take any further steps to publicise the proceedings by placing advertisements in the press or otherwise.