Audit Requirements relating to the Business Accounts of Legal Practitioners now clarified

In October 2019, the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) issued a notice of the withdrawal of the non‐binding opinion (“this” or “the” “opinion”) pertaining to Regulation 28(2)(a) of the Companies Regulations, 2011 (Companies Regulations) to the Companies Act, 2008 (the Companies Act). This opinion applied to legal practitioners who are registered as companies in terms of the Companies Act. This opinion considered whether the holding of assets in the legal practitioners’ trust accounts is regarded as part of the ordinary course of the legal practitioner’s primary business. As a result of the withdrawal of the opinion, the business accounts of legal practitioners who are subject to the Companies Act i.e. are registered companies, and who hold assets in trust in excess of R5 million at any time during the financial year are now required to be audited.