New South Wales Consolidated Acts

LEGAL PROFESSION UNIFORM LAW (NSW) - SECT 149

149 Authorised deposit-taking institutions

(1) An ADI is authorised to maintain trust accounts to hold trust money if--

(a) it is regulated by APRA; and

(b) it has entered into an arrangement with a nominated trust authority that provides for any one or more of the following--

(i) the payment of interest on the whole or any part of deposits in trust accounts to the nominated trust authority on account of the nominated fund of the relevant jurisdiction;

(ii) the manner in which the nominated trust authority is informed of amounts held in trust accounts;

(iii) the auditing of balances in trust accounts;

(iv) any other relevant matters.

(2) An ADI at which a trust account is maintained by a law practice--

(a) is not under any obligation to control or supervise transactions in relation to the account or to see to the application of money disbursed from the account; and

(b) does not have, in relation to any liability of the law practice to the ADI, any recourse or right against money in the account--

but this subsection does not relieve an ADI from any liability to which it is subject apart from this Law.

(3) An ADI must give the designated local regulatory authority any reports about trust accounts required under the Uniform Rules and must do so in accordance with the Uniform Rules.

Civil penalty: 100 penalty units.

(4) An ADI at which a trust account is maintained must, without charge, provide an investigator or external examiner access to, or copies of, any records relating to the trust account or trust money deposited in it, and full details of any transactions relating to it. This requirement applies despite any legislation or duty of confidence to the contrary.

Civil penalty: 100 penalty units.

(5) An ADI or an officer or employee of an ADI is not liable to any action for any loss or damage suffered by another person as a result of any action taken in accordance with this section.

(6) In this section--

"nominated fund" means a fund or account nominated in applicable jurisdictional legislation for the purposes of this section;

"nominated trust authority" means an authority nominated in applicable jurisdictional legislation for the purposes of this section.