Legal Profession (Solicitors’ Accounts) Rules

In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires —

In these Rules, the references to accounts, books, ledgers, journals and records shall include loose-leaf books and such cards or other permanent documents or records as are necessary for the operation of any system of book-keeping, computerised, mechanical or otherwise.

Subject to rule 9, every solicitor who holds or receives client’s money, or money which under rule 4 he is permitted and elects to pay into a client account, shall without delay pay such money into a client account.

A solicitor shall not hold or receive conveyancing money except in accordance with the applicable provisions of these Rules and the Conveyancing Rules.

Subject to rule 17, a solicitor shall not hold or receive any anticipatory conveyancing money belonging to another person.

Any solicitor may keep one client account or as many such accounts as he thinks fit.

Any solicitor may keep one conveyancing account or as many such accounts as he thinks fit.

Any solicitor appointed to act for the Central Provident Fund Board in a conveyancing transaction may keep one conveyancing (CPF) account or as many such accounts as he thinks fit.

Every conveyancing account or conveyancing (CPF) account kept by a solicitor under paragraph (3) or (4) shall be maintained by the solicitor in accordance with the Conveyancing Rules.

No money shall be withdrawn from a conveyancing account or conveyancing (CPF) account except in accordance with the Conveyancing Rules.

Subject to paragraph (2), a solicitor shall not hold or receive any sum of money which consists of a mixture of conveyancing money and any other money.

Where any sum of money held or received by a solicitor subsequently becomes a mixture of conveyancing money and any other money, the solicitor shall —

Subject to paragraphs (1) and (2), where a solicitor holds or receives any sum of money which consists of a mixture of client’s money, or trust money of one or more trusts, or both, and any other money —

No money, other than money under rules 3(1), 4 and 5(3) which a solicitor is required or permitted to pay into a client account, shall be paid into a client account.

It shall be the duty of a solicitor into whose client account any money has been paid in contravention of this rule to withdraw the money without the delay on discovery.

There may be drawn from a client account —

In the case of client’s money and trust money referred to in paragraph (1)(a) and (b), the money so drawn shall not exceed the total of the money held for the time being in the client account on account of the client or trust.

Except as provided under rule 7, no money shall be drawn from a client account unless the Council upon an application made to it by the solicitor specifically authorises in writing such withdrawal.

No money shall be drawn from a client account under rule 7(1)(a)(ii) or (iv), (c) or (d) except by —

No money shall be drawn from a client account under rule 7(1)(c) or (d) by a cash cheque or a bearer cheque.

No money shall be drawn from a client account by a cash cheque or a bearer cheque except with the permission of the General Division of the High Court.

No money shall be drawn from a client account by means of any —

No sum exceeding $5,000 is to be drawn from a client account except —

Paragraph (5) shall not apply if —

A solicitor shall not sign a cheque or other instruction effecting a withdrawal from a client account, or authorise an online digital payment effecting such withdrawal, if —

For the avoidance of doubt, a solicitor shall comply with the requirements of these Rules in respect of the withdrawal of money from a client account notwithstanding that the permission of the General Division of the High Court has been obtained in respect of that withdrawal for the purposes of paragraph (4).

Notwithstanding the provisions of these Rules, a solicitor shall not be under obligation to pay into a client account client’s money held or received by him —

Notwithstanding the provisions of these Rules, a solicitor shall not pay into a client account, money held or received by him —

Where money includes client’s money as well as money of the nature described in paragraph (2), that money shall be dealt with in accordance with rule 5(3).

Notwithstanding the provisions of these Rules, the Council may upon an application made to it by a solicitor specifically authorise him in writing to withhold any client’s money from a client account.

Every solicitor shall at all times keep properly written up in the English language such cash books, ledgers and journals and such other books and accounts as may be necessary —

All dealings referred to in paragraph (1)(a) shall be recorded as may be appropriate —

No other dealings shall be recorded in such client’s cash book and ledger mentioned in paragraph (2) or, as the case may be, in such client’s columns and journal.

All dealings of the solicitor relating to his practice as solicitor other than those referred to in paragraph (1)(a) shall, subject to compliance with the Legal Profession (Solicitors’ Trust Accounts) Rules (R 9), be recorded in such other cash book and ledger or such other columns of a cash book and ledger and such journal as the solicitor may choose to maintain.

In addition to the books and accounts referred to in paragraphs (2) and (2B), every solicitor shall keep a record of all bills of costs (distinguishing between profit costs and disbursements) and of all written intimations under rules 7(1)(a)(iv) and 9(2)(c)(i) delivered or made by the solicitor to his clients, which record shall be contained in a bills delivered book or a file of copies of such bills and intimations.

Every solicitor shall within one month of his commencing practice on his own account (either alone or in partnership) and thereafter not less than once in every succeeding month cause the balance of his clients’ cash books (or clients’ column of his cash book) to be reconciled with his clients’ bank statements and shall keep in the cash book or other appropriate place a statement showing the reconciliation.

No solicitor shall make use of any computerised system of book-keeping for the purpose of this rule unless any information which is recorded on such computerised system is capable of being reproduced in the form of a printed document within a reasonable time.

Every solicitor shall preserve for a period of at least 6 years from the date of the last entry therein —

Unless authorised in writing by the Council, no money may be withdrawn from a bank account or a deposit account with an approved finance company, being or forming part of a client account, otherwise than under the signature of a solicitor who is not a person prohibited under rule 8(7) from signing a cheque or other instruction effecting a withdrawal from a client account.

Subject to rule 11A, a solicitor may engage a book-keeper to keep his books and accounts properly written up and reconciled as required by this rule.

A solicitor shall not engage a book-keeper for the purposes of rule 11(8) unless he has obtained the written approval of the Council to do so.

An application for the approval of the Council to engage a book-keeper for the purposes of rule 11(8) shall be submitted to the Council in such form as the Council may require and shall be accompanied by a statutory declaration affirmed or sworn —

(ia)stating whether the person to be appointed to provide book-keeping services to the solicitor on behalf of the accounting firm has completed any course specified under paragraph (2A) and, if that person has not completed such a course, undertaking that that person will complete the course within 12 months of being so appointed;

(ia)stating whether the person to be appointed to provide book-keeping services to the solicitor on behalf of the accounting corporation has completed any course specified under paragraph (2A) and, if that person has not completed such a course, undertaking that that person will complete the course within 12 months of being so appointed;

(ba)if the proposed book-keeper is an accounting LLP, by the manager of the accounting LLP —

(ia)stating whether the person to be appointed to provide book-keeping services to the solicitor on behalf of the accounting LLP has completed any course specified under paragraph (2A) and, if that person has not completed such a course, undertaking that that person will complete the course within 12 months of being so appointed;

(ia)stating whether the person to be appointed to provide book-keeping services to the solicitor on behalf of the firm or body corporate has completed any course specified under paragraph (2A) and, if that person has not completed such a course, undertaking that that person will complete the course within 12 months of being so appointed;

(ia)stating whether he has completed any course specified under paragraph (2A) and, if he has not completed such a course, undertaking that he will complete the course within 12 months of being engaged by the solicitor as a book-keeper;

The Council may specify one or more courses for the purposes of paragraph (2)(a)(ia), (b)(ia), (ba)(ia), (c)(ia) and (d)(ia) by publishing the particulars of the specified courses on the website of the Law Society.

The Council may, in its discretion, refuse to grant its approval for a solicitor to engage a book-keeper for the purposes of rule 11(8) if —

Where —

The Council may give notice, of the fact that a book-keeper is not qualified to be engaged as a book-keeper for the purposes of rule 11(8), to any solicitor who appears to the Council to be likely to engage that book-keeper for the purposes of rule 11(8) or for the purpose of giving an accountant’s report under the Legal Profession (Accountant’s Report) Rules (R 10).

After a book-keeper has been notified that he is not qualified to be engaged as a book-keeper for the purposes of rule 11(8) and until such notice of disqualification has been withdrawn by the Council, he shall not —

In coming to its decision, the Council shall (if the decision is based on any matter referred to in paragraph (4)(a)) take into consideration any observation or explanation made or given by the book-keeper or on his behalf by the Public Accountants Oversight Committee.

Subject to paragraph (9), the issues which a book-keeper shall be required to undertake to inform the Council under paragraph (2)(a)(ii), (b)(ii), (ba)(ii), (c)(ii) and (d)(ii) are as follows:

The issues referred to in paragraph (8) shall not include trivial breaches due to clerical errors or mistakes in book-keeping, that were rectified upon discovery and did not result in any loss to the client.

A book-keeper engaged by a solicitor for the purposes of rule 11(8) shall submit to the Council annually a statutory declaration as described in paragraph (2) and the statutory declaration shall be submitted not later than 2 weeks after each anniversary of the date when the Council granted its written approval for the book-keeper to be so engaged by the solicitor.

In this rule, “immediate family member”, in relation to a solicitor, means a spouse, a child, an adopted child, a step-child, a sibling or a parent of the solicitor or (if the solicitor is a partner or director of a law firm, a limited liability law partnership or a law corporation) of any partner or director of that law firm, limited liability law partnership or law corporation (as the case may be).

In paragraphs (2)(c)(i), (3)(b), (c) or (d) or (4)(c), “relevant person” means, in relation to a firm or a body corporate providing book-keeping services to a solicitor, any proprietor, partner, director, member or employee of the firm or body corporate (as the case may be), or any person who will provide book-keeping services to the solicitor on behalf of the firm or body corporate.

Nothing in this rule shall deprive a solicitor of the right on the grounds of privilege as between solicitor and client to decline to produce to the book-keeper any document which the book-keeper may consider necessary for him to inspect for the purposes of carrying out his duties referred to in paragraph (8)(a) or (b).

Where the solicitor so declines, the book-keeper shall set out the circumstances and particulars of the issue encountered when he informs the Council of the issue.

In order to ascertain whether these Rules have been complied with, the Council acting —

Such report may be used as a basis for proceedings under the Act.

Upon being required to do so, a solicitor shall produce such books of account, bank pass books, loose-leaf bank statements, statements of account, vouchers and documents at the time and place fixed.

Before making any appointment under paragraph (1), the Council shall consider any objection made by any such solicitor to the appointment of a particular person on personal or other proper grounds.

Before instituting an inspection on a written complaint lodged with it by a third party, the Council —

The Council may deal with any sum so paid in such manner as it thinks fit.

shall be in writing under the hand of the Director or a member of the Council designated by the Council for this purpose; and

if the book-keeper is an accountant, an accounting firm, an accounting corporation or an accounting LLP, may be served on the book-keeper by sending the notice by registered post to the address of the book-keeper provided to the Council in relation to an application under rule 11A or appearing in the Register of Public Accountants, Register of Accounting Firms or Register of Accounting Corporations (as the case may be) kept and maintained under the Accountants Act 2004 (Act 4 of 2004).

Notwithstanding anything in these Rules or in Part II of the Conveyancing Rules, a solicitor may continue to hold any conveyancing money or anticipatory conveyancing money that is deposited into his client account before 1st August 2011 —

For a period of 5 months beginning on 1st August 2011 —

In this rule, “unclaimed conveyancing money” means any conveyancing money or anticipatory conveyancing money deposited into a solicitor’s client account before 1st August 2011 which the solicitor is unable to pay to the person entitled to be paid the money by reason that —