A solicitor who receives funds into a trust account from persons who are not the solicitor's clients does not, by mere receipt of those funds, owe fiduciary obligations to those persons; the obligation runs to the person 'for whom' the funds are received and held. Where a charge of misappropriation in disciplinary proceedings incorporates an allegation of dishonesty, the Peters v The Queen subjective test must be applied and the onus of proving dishonesty lies with the regulator. Whether dishonesty is always a necessary element of misappropriation in a professional disciplinary context remains an open question.
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