Settlement Agents Act 1981

Every settlement agent who holds a current triennial certificate shall prepare and certify under his hand and produce to the auditor who audits his trust accounts a statement setting forth in detail particulars of —

moneys held, on the last day of the period to which the audit relates, by the settlement agent for or on behalf of any other person; and

negotiable or bearer securities or deposit receipts in the name of the settlement agent which represent moneys drawn from the settlement agent’s trust accounts and which are held by the settlement agent on that day.

The auditor shall examine the statement and endorse on it a certificate as to whether or not it is correct, and deliver it to the settlement agent.

The statement so delivered shall be retained by the settlement agent and be produced on demand to the auditor making the next succeeding audit of the settlement agent’s trust accounts together with a copy of the report of the last preceding audit of those accounts verified by statutory declaration of the then auditor.

Where a settlement agent’s accounts are being audited for the first time or, where for any other reason, no statement containing the particulars set out in subsection (1) and relating to the previous period of audit is available for the purpose of audit the settlement agent shall in lieu thereof make out and produce to the auditor before the making of his report, a statement containing the like particulars as to moneys and negotiable securities held on the first day of the period to which the audit relates.

Every statement made under this section shall be verified by the statutory declaration of the settlement agent, or, in the case of a firm, by the statutory declaration of one of the partners, or, in the case of a body corporate, by the person in bona fide control of the settlement agent’s business.

62. Auditor’s report to report breaches of law etc.

If an auditor in the course of auditing a settlement agent’s trust accounts discovers that the accounts are not kept in such a manner as to enable them to be properly audited, or discovers any matter which appears to him to involve dishonesty or a breach of the law on the part of the settlement agent, or discovers loss or deficiency of trust moneys, or failure to pay or account for any such moneys, or to comply with the provisions of this Act, he shall fully set out the facts so discovered by him in the report to be delivered to the Commissioner.

[Section 62 amended: No. 58 of 2010 s. 176.]