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Rules of the Law Society of Saskatchewan

 


Part 15 - (Excerpt)

Definitions

1501. In this Part,

“auditor or investigator” means a person designated to investigate, inspect or audit the accounts, books and records of a firm in accordance with clause 10(t) of the Act;

“books of original entry” means books or journals recording in chronological order the full details of all trust and general transactions including but not limited to receipts, payments and transfers between individual client trust ledgers;

cash” means coins referred to in section 7 of the Currency Act, notes issued by the Bank of Canada pursuant to the Bank of Canada Act that are intended for circulation in Canada and coins or bank notes of countries other than Canada;

"client" includes a person, corporate body or other legal entity on whose behalf the member or firm has been retained to provide legal services;

“cooperate” includes but is not limited to a firm and its members:

(a) producing immediately and permitting the copying of all records and supporting documentation, including client files;

(b) answering all questions satisfactorily; and

(c) providing all information and explanations in paper or electronic form as requested by the auditor.

“credit union central” means a central cooperative credit society, as defined in section 2 of the Cooperative Credit Associations Act, or a credit union central or a federation of credit unions or caisses populaires that is regulated by a provincial or territorial Act other than one enacted by the legislature of Quebec;

currency” includes current coins, government or bank notes of Canada or any other country;

“disbursements” means amounts paid or required to be paid to a third party by the member or the member’s firm on a client’s behalf in connection with the provision of legal services to the client by the member or the firm which will be reimbursed by the client;

“double entry” accounting means a system of accounting in which every transaction has a corresponding positive and negative entry (debit and credit);

“electronic funds transfer” means an electronic transmission of funds conducted by and received at a financial institution or a financial entity headquartered in and operating in a country that is a member of the Financial Action Task Force, where neither the sending nor the receiving account holders handle or transfer the funds, and where the transmission record contains a reference number, the date, transfer amount, currency and the names of the sending and receiving account holders and the conducting and receiving entities;

“expenses” means costs incurred by a member or firm in connection with the provision of legal services to a client which will be reimbursed by the client including such items as photocopying, travel, courier or postage, and legal assistant costs;

“fiscal period” means the time period, not exceeding 12 months without the written approval of the Society, for which the accounts of a firm have been or ordinarily are made up;

“financial institution” means:

(a) a bank that is regulated pursuant to the Bank Act,

(b) an authorized foreign bank within the meaning of section 2 of the Bank Act in respect of its business in Canada,

(c) cooperative credit society, savings and credit union or caisse populaire that is regulated by a provincial or territorial Act,

(d) an association that is regulated by the Cooperative Credit Associations Act (Canada),

(e) a financial services cooperative,

(f) a credit union central,

(g) a company that is regulated pursuant to the Trust and Loan Companies Act (Canada),

(h) a trust company or loan company that is regulated by a provincial or territorial Act,

(i) a department or ministry or an entity that is an agent of Her Majesty in right of Canada or of a province or territory when it accepts deposit liabilities in the course of providing financial services to the public, or

(j) a subsidiary of the financial institution whose financial statements are consolidated with those of the financial institution;

“financial services cooperative” means a financial services cooperative that is regulated by An Act respecting financial services cooperatives, CQLR, c. C-67.3, or An Act respecting the Mouvement Desjardins, S.Q. 2000, c.77, other than a caisse populaire;

“funds” means cash, currency, securities and negotiable instruments or other financial instruments that indicate the person’s title or right to or interest in them;

“general account” means an account other than a trust account opened with a financial institution maintained by a firm into which is deposited only funds received by the firm in connection with the practice of law, which are not trust funds;

“member” means an active member as defined in Part 7 of these Rules or a person entitled to practice law in Saskatchewan in accordance with mobility provisions set out in Part 8 of these Rules;

“member who is the subject of bankruptcy proceedings” means a member, including a studentat-law and an applicant for admission or reinstatement, who:

(a) is bankrupt;

(b) is an insolvent person;

(c) commits an act of bankruptcy;

(d) has made a proposal, including a consumer proposal; or

(e) has applied for a consolidation order, pursuant to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act;

“money” includes cash, cheques, drafts, credit card sales slips, post office orders and express and bank money orders, electronic transfer of deposits at financial institutions, and any other financial or negotiable instruments;

“organization” means a body corporate, partnership, fund, trust, co-operative or an unincorporated association;

“pooled trust account” means an interest-bearing chequing account opened at a financial institution by a firm into which money received is deposited or held for the benefit of a number of clients as referred to in subsection 78(1) of the Act;

“professional fees” means amounts billed or to be billed to a client for legal services provided or to be provided to the client by the member or the firm;

“public body” means:

(a) a department or ministry or agent of Her Majesty in right of Canada or of a province or territory;

(b) an incorporated city, town, village, metropolitan authority, township, district, county, rural municipality or other incorporated municipal body or an agent of any of them;

(c) a local board of a municipality incorporated by or under an Act of a province or territory of Canada;

(d) an organization that operates a public hospital and that is designated by the Minister of National Revenue as a hospital under the Excise Tax Act or an agent of the organization;

(e) a body incorporated by or under an Act of a province or territory of Canada for a public purpose; or

(f) a subsidiary of a public body whose financial statements are consolidated with those of the public body.

“reporting issuer” means an organization that is a reporting issuer within the meaning of the securities laws of any province or territory of Canada, or a corporation whose shares are traded on a stock exchange designated under section 262 of the Income Tax Act (Canada) and operates in a country that is a member of the Financial Action Task Force, and including a subsidiary of that organization or corporation whose financial statements are consolidated with those of the organization or corporation;

“securities dealer” means persons or entities authorized under provincial or territorial legislation to engage in the business of dealing in securities or any other financial instruments or to provide portfolio management or investment advising services, other than persons who act exclusively on behalf of such an authorized person or entity;

“SIBA” means an interest-bearing account opened by a member or firm in trust for a specific client at a financial institution, which account must be a savings account, a term deposit, a guaranteed investment certificate, or a Government of Canada Treasury Bill purchased with trust funds through a financial institution;

“signature” as it relates to trust cheques and trust withdrawals in this Part means the member’s original signature in ink and not in electronic form;

“trust funds” means any monies received by a member in the member’s capacity as a lawyer, which are not intended to immediately become property of the member and include:

(a) funds from a client for services to be performed or for disbursements to be made on behalf of the client;

(b) funds which belong in part to a client and in part to the member, if it is not practicable to split the funds; or

(c) funds received from or held on behalf of a third party which relate to a transaction in which a client is involved but does not include funds to be remitted to any government by way of taxes or employee payroll deductions.

“trust property” means any property of value received or held by a member in the member’s capacity as a lawyer pursuant to trust conditions that belongs to a client or is received on a client’s behalf, other than trust money, that can be negotiated or transferred by a member including but not limited to gems, jewelry, coins and similar property.

[Rule 900 amended September 16, 1994, May 2002, October 2002, February 2005, June 2005]
[Rule 900(d) added June 6 & 7, 1996]
[Rule 900(d) in Trust Funds deleted October 2001]

 


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Deposit of Trust Funds

1504.

(1) A member who receives trust money shall deposit the money into a pooled trust account of the firm within 3 business days.

(2) Trust money may not be paid or transferred to any other person, entity or account until subrule (1) has been complied with.

(3) Where a member who receives trust money participates in an arrangement with another firm to share either or both of space and certain common expenses but otherwise practises as an independent practitioner:

(a) the member must open a trust account in the name of the member’s own firm; and

(b) the member must not deposit trust money into a trust account opened by any other firm without the written approval of the Executor Director other than in the course of providing legal services to a client.

(4) If a member at the time this Rule comes into force participates in an arrangement for using another member’s trust account, that member may apply to the Executive Director to continue to operate in the current manner until such time as the Executive Director advises that this Rule must be complied with.

(5) A member who receives trust funds with written instructions as to where the funds are to be placed shall first place the funds into a pooled trust account and then place the funds in accordance with instructions received.

(6) A member may not hold or invest monies outside the Province of Saskatchewan on behalf of a client unless the member’s primary practice is outside of Saskatchewan, and the trust funds are handled in accordance with the Rules of the law society of that province or territory and the monies are received pursuant to that practice.

(7) A law firm may receive trust and general receipts by credit or debit cards subject to the following conditions:

(a) trust receipts must be deposited, within 3 business days, directly into a trust account;

(b) general receipts must be deposited within 7 business days directly into a general account or may be deposited to a pooled trust account subject to the following conditions:

(i) the general portion of the receipt must be paid within 3 business days from the trust account to the general account;

(ii) the firm shall maintain a trust ledger card recording the receipt and payout of the general receipts; and

(iii) the trust ledger card must distinguish the general receipts by client. (c) the payor, client name, and file number must be recorded on the merchant slip;

(d) the word “Trust” must be recorded on the merchant slip for all trust receipts and the word “General” must be recorded on the merchant slip for all general receipts;

(e) the receipt must be recorded in the applicable trust or general journal and the merchant slip must be attached to the deposit slip and filed in chronological order; and

(f) all service charges and discounts, including those related to trust receipts, must be withdrawn from the law firm general account.

(8) A firm may receive money into its trust account electronically subject to the deposit of these monies being confirmed within 3 business days of receipt.

(9) The confirmation mentioned in subrule (8) shall be prepared by the bank or the firm, retained by the firm, and shall include:

(a) the date monies are deposited into trust;

(b) the name of the financial institution;

(c) the account number into which these monies are deposited;

(d) information identifying the remitter of the funds;

(e) the client name or file number involved; and

(f) the signature or initial of the member or person authorized by the member confirming the deposit of monies received electronically into the firm’s trust account.

(10) Members may deposit trust and general receipts using automated teller machines (ATMs) but only subject to the following conditions:

(a) ATM cards for trust accounts must be restricted to deposit only;

(b) trust receipts must be deposited directly into a pooled trust account of the firm;

(c) unless received by credit or debit card and handled in accordance with subrule (7), general receipts must be deposited directly into a general account of the firm; and

(d) the payor, client name and file number, if applicable, must be recorded on all ATM slips; (e) the receipt must be recorded in the applicable trust or general journal and the ATM slip must be attached to a deposit slip and filed in chronological order.

(11) A member who receives trust funds which belong in part to a client and in part to the member shall:

(a) deposit the funds into a pooled trust account; and

(b) within 7 business days of receiving information that would enable the member to split the funds, withdraw the member’s funds from the trust account.

(12) A member may handle the member’s own legal transactions through a trust account provided the money is handled in the normal course of a legal file and the money is paid out expeditiously when the matter is concluded.

(13) Active members whose primary practice is outside Saskatchewan are not required to hold trust monies in Saskatchewan, but they must comply with the trust accounting rules in the jurisdiction in which they practise.

(14) In this Rule:

(a) the cities of Lloydminster, Alberta, and Flin Flon, Manitoba, are deemed to be in Saskatchewan and the deposit of trust monies in a financial institution located in those two cities is deemed compliant with Rule 1505 and Rule 1507;

(b) Alberta or Manitoba credit unions located in Lloydminster, Alberta or Flin Flon, Manitoba, which are incorporated, continued or registered under the Alberta or Manitoba equivalent to The Credit Union Act, 1985 are deemed to be financial institutions.

[Rule 910 amended June 8, 1994]
[Rule 910(3) added June 2004]

 


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Pooled Trust Account

1505.

(1) A pooled trust account referred to in Rule 1504 shall be in a financial institution in Saskatchewan, and shall be:

(a) an account which is readily available to be drawn upon by the member, and in respect of which the firm receives all bank statements, cancelled cheques or cheque images in a form approved by the Society, each month;

(b) an account in respect of which the financial institution has agreed with the firm to pay interest to the Law Foundation in accordance with subrule (2);

(c) kept in the name of the firm;

(d) designated as a “trust” account on the records of the financial institution and of the firm;

(e) an account for which online access is restricted to read or view only; (f) an account which restricts bank card access to deposit and read or view only; and

(g) insured by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation or the Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation.

(2) A firm that opens or maintains a pooled trust account shall:

(a) instruct each financial institution in writing to remit to the Law Foundation at least quarterly the interest earned on the account;

(b) instruct each financial institution in writing to remit to the Law Foundation any and all monetary benefits received on the account; and

(c) notify each financial institution in writing that the account is a trust account which will contain the funds of more than one client.

(3) Subject to subrule (4) and subrules 1504(11) and 1526(1), a member firm shall not deposit into or retain in a pooled trust account any funds which are not trust funds whether or not they were received by the firm in connection with its practice of law.

(4) A member shall pay out of the member’s own funds any service fees, charges or discounts levied by the financial institution arising out of the operation of a pooled trust account, and for that purpose may direct that all such fees, charges or discounts be withdrawn from the firm’s general account or the firm may maintain in each pooled trust account an amount up to $300 of the firm’s own funds, or greater, if approved in writing by the Executive Director, to meet reasonably anticipated service fees, charges or discounts.

[Rule 911(e) added February 6, 1997]

 

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