New rules for conveyancing money take effect
A new set of rules to better protect a client's conveyancing money from being misappropriated kicks into gear today.
Lawyers will no longer be allowed to receive and hold conveyancing money in their normal client accounts. Those who flout this rule could face a fine of up to $50,000 or a maximum jail term of three years, or both.
Under the new regime, lawyers can hold conveyancing money in three ways.
The first is a so-called 'conveyancing account' that can be opened with the five banks designated by the Ministry of Law. These are the Bank of China, DBS Bank, OCBC Bank, the Bank of East Asia and United Overseas Bank.
Alternatively, lawyers can make use of the S’pore Academy of Law's (SAL) conveyancing money service.
A third way is to hold the money in an escrow account that is jointly opened by the lawyers of the property seller and buyer.Buyers and sellers who wish to deposit money into conveyancing accounts will have to add the suffix 'CVY' to the payee's name on their cheques, cashier's orders or bank drafts. Withdrawal or payout of money from conveyancing accounts will also require two-party authorisation.
To facilitate the adoption of the new rules, the Ministry of Law said that the S’pore Land Authority had set up a new electronic payment instructions service (ePI). The ePI allows lawyers to initiate and countersign payment instructions electronically and also for the sanctioned banks and SAL to process these transactions, the ministry said.
Source : The Business Times, 1 Aug 2011
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