Trust account handbook - Department of Commerce - wa.gov.au

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4.8 Trust account management Trust accounts should not be treated as the agency’s general bank account. Section 49(1) requires that one or more trust accounts are maintained exclusively for the purposes of the Act. Trust funds should be paid out to the rightful owner as soon as possible after the completion of a transaction. Disbursements of money from a trust account maintained for the purposes of the Act must be associated directly with the settlement of a real estate or business transaction that incurred those disbursements. Agents should draw fee entitlements from the trust account after settlement and pay them into the agency’s general account (from which payments for agency operating costs and payments to partners/directors can be made). If large amounts of money are held in a trust account, the risk and scale of the potential theft is increased. 4.9 What must an agent do on becoming aware of fraud or theft? If an agent becomes aware that money has been stolen from the trust account, the agent must: • notify the Commissioner, advising the date on which the theft occurred, the amount involved, the reason for it and any action taken to correct it; • contact the auditor to conduct a special trust audit to attempt to quantify the amount of the misappropriation and possibly identify the culprit; • notify the police of the misappropriation of trust money and that a special audit is being conducted; 30 • replace the misappropriated amount immediately; and • alert the agency’s professional indemnity insurer. SETTLEMENT AGENTS’ TRUST ACCOUNT HANDBOOK
GLOSSARY Act (The) The Settlement Agents Act 1981 (the Act) Agent A person who is a real estate settlement agent or a business settlement agent within the meaning of the Act. Approved Approved by Consumer Protection. Auditor A person appointed under section 54 of the Act to audit the trust accounts of a settlement agent. Authorised financial institution A bank, a society, or any other body that is prescribed or that belongs to a class of bodies that is prescribed by the Act. Bank account An account kept with a bank, society or other similar body. Banker The manager, or other officer, for the time being in charge of the office of a bank, society or other body in which any account of an agent is kept. Code of Conduct The agent’s code of conduct prescribed and published under section 82 of the Act, ie the Settlement Agents Code of Conduct 1982 (the Code of Conduct). Commissioner The Commissioner of Consumer Protection. The Commissioner requests information and makes whatever investigations and inquiries as seems proper to the Commissioner and is assisted in her role by staff at Consumer Protection. Consumer Protection The Consumer Protection division of the Department of Commerce. Business day A day other than Saturday, Sunday, or a public holiday. Business Settlement Agent Any other person who arranges or effects a settlement of a business transaction for reward, or who, whether for reward or otherwise, carries on business arranging or effecting settlements of business transactions. 31 SETTLEMENT AGENTS’ TRUST ACCOUNT HANDBOOK
Page 1 and 2: Government of Western Australia Dep
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents Introduction.....
Page 5 and 6: Introduction The Settlement Agents
Page 7 and 8: 1.5 Types of trust accounts General
Page 9 and 10: 1.10 What trust documents and recor
Page 11 and 12: The following calculation can be us
Page 13 and 14: PART 2 TRUST DOCUMENTS AND RECORDS
Page 15 and 16: cross-referenced against the interi
Page 17 and 18: • amount received; and • the to
Page 19 and 20: 2.8 Buffer account Agents sometimes
Page 21 and 22: Regular monitoring of trust account
Page 23 and 24: Example: Trust account reconciliati
Page 25 and 26: 3.3 What are an agent’s responsib
Page 27 and 28: As well as advising Consumer Protec
Page 29 and 30: PART 4. PREVENTING THEFT AND FRAUD
Page 31: everse the transaction. Agents shou
Page 35: Department of Commerce Consumer Pro

Trust account handbook - Department of Commerce - wa.gov.au

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