SOLICITORS TRUST ACCOUNT REGULATIONS
1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the "Solicitors Trust Account Regulations".
(2) These Regulations shall commence on the first day of July, 1958.
(3) The Solicitors Trust Account Regulations published in Government Gazette No. 8 of 26th January, 1945 are hereby repealed.
1A. In these Regulations -
“the Act” means the Legal Practitioners Act, 1898.
“trust records” means the books, ledger, statements and journal required to be kept under clause (1) of Regulation 3.
2. (1) These Regulations shall apply to and in respect of every practising solicitor who in the course of his practice as such receives, holds or disburses money on behalf of any person.
Provided that where two or more solicitors are engaged in the practice of their profession in partnership the books, ledger and statement referred to in these Regulations may be kept for or in respect of the transactions of the partnership.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of these Regulations other than a provision which expressly or by necessary implication otherwise indicates or requires, nothing in these regulations shall be construed as applying in respect of money that is received by a solicitor and that is not required by the Act to be paid into a bank in New South Wales to a trust account.
2A. Where an account is opened or kept by a solicitor for the purpose of a trust account as referred to in Section 41(1) of the Act, the name of the account shall include the words “Trust Account” or “Trust A/c”.
3. (1) Every solicitor shall keep or cause to be kept at his registered office:-
(a) a receipt book;
(b) a bank deposit book;
(c) a cash book, or receipts cash book and payments cash book;
(d) a trust ledger
(e) a trust cheque book;
(f) trust ledger trial balance statements;
(g) a trust journal.
(2) The receipt book, bank deposit book cash book or books, the trust ledger, the trust cheque book and the trust journal shall be kept either in book form or on the loose-leaf principle or in a system or cards, and provision shall be made for the binding of all loose leaves on or before the last days of the months of March, June, September and December in each year and the filing for record purposes of all completed ledger cards. All trust records shall be retained for a period of five years after the last entry has been made therein.
(3) The receipt book and the cash book or books may be used for the purpose of giving receipts for and recording transactions with any moneys whether or not such moneys are moneys received, held or disbursed for or on behalf of any person, provided separate columns are used for each class of transaction. The bank deposit book, the trust ledger and the trust journal shall be used only in relation to moneys received, held or disbursed by the solicitor for or on behalf of any person. Provided, however, that it shall be permissible for trust transactions to be recorded in a separate column of the bank deposit book, the trust journal and the ledger or on the reverse of a ledger kept on the loose-leaf or card principle.
4. (1) The receipt book shall contain forms of receipt in duplicate and both copies shall be machine numbered, and in such form provision shall be made for entry of the following particulars:-
(a) the date of the receipt;
(b) the amount of the money received;
(c) the name of the person by whom or on whose behalf such moneys paid to the solicitor;
(d) particulars sufficient to identify the transaction in or in respect of which the moneys are paid.
(2) Where moneys are received for or on behalf of any person by a solicitor such solicitor shall issue or cause to be issued from the receipt book a receipt for such moneys, and in such receipt shall enter the particulars referred to in this Regulation. A carbon impression of the receipt and particulars shall be made on the duplicate form and such duplicate form shall be retained.
(3) Where the cash book or receipts cash book is used by a solicitor for the purpose of issuing receipts and a carbon impression of the entry made on the receipt is recorded as a cash book entry -
(4) A solicitor shall clearly mark or cause to be clearly marked on the receipt issued from the receipt book or from the cash book or receipts cash book for moneys received for or on behalf of any person by the solicitor either the words "Trust Account" or the word and symbols "Trust A/c".
(1) The bank deposit form shall make provision for entry of particulars indicating the date of the deposit the amount of the deposit, whether the same consists of cheques, notes or coins, as the case may be, and in the case of cheques the name of the drawer. A carbon impression of the deposit slip shall be made on the duplicate form and such duplicate form shall be retained.
(2) Every solicitor shall ensure that the bank deposit book is produced to the bank at the time of making the deposit and that the particulars referred to in this Regulation are entered therein and that the carbon duplicate of each complete deposit entry is initialled by an officer of the bank and stamped with the bank's stamp.
(1) The cash book shall be a book or books, the sheets of which are consecutively numbered, and the consecutive number of receipts issued or cheques drawn shall be shown on the respective sheets. Where the loose-leaf principle is used, separate sheets maybe kept for the receipts cash book and the payments cash book, and it shall not be necessary to number the sheets consecutively. The solicitor shall enter or cause to be entered on the receipts side of the cash book or on the receipts cash sheets or in the receipts cash book particulars of all moneys received by him for or on behalf of any person and on the disbursement side of the cash book or in the payments cash sheets or in the payments cash book particulars of moneys disbursed by him for or on behalf of any person.
(2) At the end of each month the cash book or books shall be balanced and the balance carried forward to the commencement of the next month, provided however that such balance may be carried forward on a ledger account provided for that purpose.
(3) At the end of each month the entries in the cash book or books relating to moneys received or disbursed for or on behalf of any person which have been paid into or withdrawn from the trust account shall be compared with the bank pass book or pass sheets and amounts credited to the bank account and appearing in the bank pass sheets for which no receipt had been written and amounts debited to the bank account and appearing in the bank pass sheets for which no cheque had been drawn, shall been entered in the cash book or books.
Any necessary reconciliation showing the balance in the trust account as indicated in the bank pass book or pass sheets, and adding thereto any moneys received but not banked and deducting therefrom cheques drawn on the trust account but not presented for payment shall be entered in the cash book or one of the cash books as the end of the entries for that month.
6A. The solicitor shall enter or cause to be entered in the trust journal particulars of:-
(a) all adjustments to be made to accounts in the trust ledger;
(b) all transfers to be effected from one ledger account to another;
(c) all other transactions affecting any trust ledger account which are not posted or to be posted from a cash book to the trust ledger.
In each entry such particulars shall be sufficient to identify the transaction in respect of which such entry is made and the reason for such entry.
7. (1) The trust ledger shall contain particulars of all moneys held, received or disbursed for or on behalf of any person by the solicitor, which taken in conjunction with other particulars occurring in the receipt book, cash book or books and the trust journal are sufficient to identify the transaction in or in respect of which the moneys are so held, received or disbursed.
(2) Entries in the cash book or books relating to moneys held, received or disbursed for or on behalf of any person shall be posted to the appropriate account in the trust ledger and against each Such entry there shall be recorded a reference to the folio of the cash book from which the entry is posted, or a reference to the receipt number or cheque number where the cash book is kept on the loose-leaf principle.
(2A) Each entry in the trust journal shall be posted to the appropriate account in the trust ledger, and against each entry so posted in the trust ledger there shall be recorded a reference to the folio of the trust journal from which the entry is posted preceded by the letter “J”.
(3) Each account in the trust ledger shall be in the name of the person for whom or on whose behalf the moneys are held.
(3A) At the end of each month each account in the trust ledger shall be balanced and the balance carried forward to the commencement of the next month.
(4) Within one month after the last day of each of the months of March, June, September and December in each year a trial balance statement as at such last day shall be prepared and the date on which the statement is so prepared shall be endorsed thereon. In such statement the balances in the various accounts contained in the trust ledger shall be listed, and such accounts shall be referred to by the name of the person and the folio or other reference to the trust ledger. The result of the trial balance shall be compared with the balance in the cash book or books reconciled with the bank pass book or pass sheets in accordance with the provisions of clause (3) of Regulation 6.
8.(1),(2) (Deleted).
(3) Subject to clause (4) of this Regulation, an applicant for a practising certificate shall forward to the Society with his applicant or within such time after forwarding his application as the Council may in any particular case allow a report in or to the effect of Form No.1 in the Schedule to these Regulations, of a public accountant registered under the Public Accountants Registration Act, 1945.
(4) This Regulation shall only apply to and in respect of a solicitor who in the course of his practice as such either alone or in partnership has received, held or disbursed any moneys for or on behalf of any person during the year ending on 31st March immediately preceding the date on which the application for a practising certificate is made.
(5) Where an applicant for a practising certificate has forwarded to the Society a report of an accountant under clause (3) of this regulation
(a) The Council may require the applicant to furnish a report of another public accountant registered under the Public Accountants Registration Act 1945, and may, if it thinks f' nominate such other accountant;
(b) the applicant, if he is so required, shall forward to the Society a report, in or to the effect of Form No. I in the schedule to these Regulations, of such other accountant; and
(c) the cost of the report forwarded under this clause shall be borne by the Council unless the report so forwarded discloses that the applicant is in breach of or default under any of the provisions of the Act or the Regulations under the Act.
SCHEDULE
Form No. 1
LEGAL PRACTITIONERS ACT, 1898
Solicitors Trust Account Regulations
Regulation 8
TO: THE LAW SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES
REPORT OF ACCOUNTANT*
Name of Applicant for Practising Certificate:............................................................................
Name of Partnership (if any) of which Applicant is a member:............................................
*This report is required in respect of every solicitor who, in his practice as suck either alone or in partnership, has received held or disbursed any monies for or on behalf of any person during the year ending on 31st March immediately preceding the date on which the application for a practising certificate is made. Where solicitors are practising in partnership this report may refer to the accounts of the partnership.
1. Subject to any qualifications contained in clause 2 hereof:-
(a) I have inspected the trust records (as defined in Regulation IA of the Solicitors Trust Account Regulations) of the said applicant/ partnership which the applicant has produced to me and states are kept at his registered office as the trust records (as so defined) in connection with the trust account of the said applicant/partnership relating to transactions during the year ended on the 31st day of March immediately preceding this report.
(b) In my opinion the said trust records are of the nature and in the form prescribed by Regulations 3,4,5,6,6A and 7 of the said Regulations. The said trust records appear to have been regularly written up and properly kept.
(c) I have had produced to me a cash book or books containing what purports to be a reconciliation of the balance, as at 31st day of March immediately preceding this report, shown in such cash book or books with the balance in the bank pass book or pass sheets as required by Regulation 6(3) of the said Regulations. I have also had produced to me such bank pass books or pass sheets and the balance shown therein agrees with that shown in the reconciliation statement.
(d) I have had produced to me statements which purport to be trial balance statements as at the last day of each of the four quarters immediately preceding this report and which are in a form complying with Regulation 7(4) of the said Regulations. In respect of the statement as at the 31st day of March immediately preceding the year or the part of the year in respect of which the applicant is .applying for a practising certificate the totals in such trial balance statement when compared with the reconciliation statement referred to in paragraph (c) of this clause purport to show that the said trust account was in balance at the last mentioned date.
(e) There are no debit balances in any of the trial balance statements referred to in paragraph (d) of this clause other than those which have been satisfactorily explained to me.
(f) I have made an examination of the additions of not less than ten accounts in the trust ledger (or of all such accounts where there are not more than ten) and the balance in each of these accounts as at the 31st day of March referred to in paragraph (d) of this clause agrees with the corresponding balance shown for the same account in the trial balance statement as at the same date.
(g) I certify that:-
(i) The bank/s holding the trust account/s of the said applicant/ partnership has/have affirmed to me that at the close of business on 31st March immediately preceding this Report the number/s and balance/s of the letter/s of credit issued to the applicant/partnership in respect of deposits made to The Law Society of New South Wales Special Account with that bank/those banks were as specified below; and
(ii) to the best of my knowledge and belief the total amount specified below was the sum required by Section 42A of the Legal Practitioners Act, 1898, to be on deposit with The Law Society of New South Wales in respect of the applicant/ partnership on that day.
| Name of Bank | Letter of Credit |
 | Number - Balance |
| |
| Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited | |
| Bank of New South Wales | |
| Bank of New Zealand | |
| Banque Nationale de Paris | |
| Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited | |
| Commercial Banking of Australia Limited | |
| Commonwealth Banking Corporation | |
| National Bank of Australasia Limited | |
| Rural Bank of New South Wales | |
| The Bank of Adelaide | |
| Other (Specify) | |
| |
| Total amount$ |
+2. I am unable to report in terms of paragraph (a),(b),(c),(d),(e),(f) or(g) of clause 1 except with qualifications as follows:-
+ Delete if not applicable.
- Here should be set out any qualifications to paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), or (g) of clause 1.
Dated this ............................................ day of ...................................................... 1984
(Signed): .........................................................................................................................
Full Name: .....................................................................................................................
(BLOCK LETTERS)
Firm Name: (if any) .......................................................................................................
Address:..........................................................................................................................
Phone No.: ......................................................................................................................
Registered under the Public Accountants Registration Act, 1945.
