Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006

110 Obligation to pay money received into trust account at bank

• (1) A practitioner who, in the course of his or her practice, receives money for, or on behalf of, any person—

  • (a) must ensure that the money is paid promptly into a bank in New Zealand to a general or separate trust account of—

    • (i) the practitioner; or

    • (ii) a person who, or body that, is, in relation to the practitioner, a related person or entity; and

  • (b) must hold the money, or ensure that the money is held, exclusively for that person, to be paid to that person or as that person directs.

  (2) An incorporated firm that, in the course of its practice, receives money for, or on behalf of, any person—

  • (a) must ensure that the money is paid promptly into a bank in New Zealand to a general or separate trust account of the firm; and

  • (b) must hold the money, or ensure that the money is held, exclusively for that person, to be paid to that person or as that person directs.

  (3) For the purposes of this section, a practitioner or an incorporated firm is deemed to have received money belonging to another person if—

  • (a) that person, or a bank or other agency acting for, or on behalf of, that person, deposits funds by means of a telegraphic or electronic transfer of funds into the bank account of—

    • (i) the practitioner or incorporated firm; or

    • (ii) a person who, or body that, is, in relation to the practitioner, a related person or entity; or

  • (b) the practitioner or incorporated firm takes control of money belonging to that person.

  (4) A person commits an offence against this Act and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $25,000 who knowingly acts in contravention of subsection (1) or subsection (2).

  Compare: 1982 No 123 s 89(1), (3)