The Trust Administration Fee (TAF) funds the Trust Assurance Program and transfers funding to Part B Indemnification coverage, and has remained at $15 since 2014. However, the revenue from TAF has been declining, largely due to fewer real estate unit sales.
In order to carry out the program’s important mandate, to cover the costs of the program and to continue to fund Part B Indemnification coverage, the TAF will be increased from $15 to $20 per applicable transaction, effective January 1, 2025.
About the Trust Assurance Program
Beginning in 2007, the Law Society’s Trust Assurance Program has played a vital role in protection of the public in monitoring lawyers’ use of trust accounts and their handling of clients’ trust funds. The Trust Assurance department employs a team of highly skilled and experienced auditors that are designated Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) and Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (CAMS). The team is supported by a complement of dedicated trust analysts, data analysts and administrative staff.
Over the years, the program has provided valuable guidance, feedback and resources to lawyers on how they can strengthen and improve their procedures in handling their client’s trust funds and has brought forward serious concerns for investigation.
In June 2022, the Honourable Austin F. Cullen published his report Money Laundering in British Columbia. The report highlighted the legal profession’s critical role as gatekeepers and discussed the inherent risk that trust accounts could be used to facilitate money laundering. Mr. Cullen also remarked that in “[his] view, the Law Society’s extensive trust regulation and auditing powers, and its diligent application of those powers, significantly mitigate that risk in British Columbia.”
