Legal Profession (Deposit Interest) (Amendment) Rules 1998

Status:

Published in Subsidiary Legislation Supplement
on 17 Jul 1998

No. S 379

Legal Profession Act

(Chapter 161)

Legal Profession (Deposit Interest)
(Amendment) Rules 1998

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 72(1) of the Legal Profession Act, the Council of the Law Society of Singapore, with the approval of the Chief Justice, hereby makes the following Rules:

Citation and commencement

1. These Rules may be cited as the Legal Profession (Deposit Interest) (Amendment) Rules 1998 and shall come into operation on 1st August 1998.

Deletion and substitution of rule 2

2. Rule 2 of the Legal Profession (Deposit Interest) Rules (R 5) is deleted and the following rule substituted therefor:

“Fixed deposits and their management

2.—(1) Subject to rule 4, when a solicitor holds or receives money for or on account of a client, the solicitor shall —

(a)	deposit such money separately in a bank or an approved finance company by way of fixed deposit repayable on demand in the name of the solicitor or his firm and the name of the client or the matter concerned, and account to the client for any interest earned thereon; or
(b)	pay to the client out of his own money the sum equivalent to the interest which would have accrued for the benefit of the client if the money had been deposited separately in a bank or an approved finance company by way of fixed deposit as provided in sub-paragraph (a).

(2) Nothing in paragraph (1) shall require a solicitor to deposit or to account to a client for interest or to pay interest to a client unless —

(a)	the sum of money received by the solicitor exceeds $5,000 at the time of receipt; and
(b)	the instructions to the solicitor at the time of receipt are such that he knows that the sum of money so received will not, within 4 months thereafter, be either wholly disbursed or reduced to a sum below $5,000 and the sum of money so received is not in fact within such period so disbursed or reduced.

(3) In this rule, “approved finance company” means any finance company registered under the Finance Companies Act (Cap. 108) which is approved by the Minister to accept deposits of client’s money for the purpose of these Rules.”.

Made this 29th day of June 1998.

GEORGE LIM TEONG JIN

President,
Council of the Law Society of Singapore.

[LS/52/98/YD/zul; AG/LEG/SL/161/97/1 Vol. 1]

(To be presented to Parliament under section 131 of the Legal Profession Act).

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