The police said the review was needed to prevent criminal breach of trust (CBT).
Abdul Fareed Abdul Gafoor said the suggestion for “joint accounts” was impractical as legal transactions are time sensitive.
“Any additional requirements for signatures might end up in delays, and lawyers will be blamed.
“In property-related transactions, missing a deadline can result in termination, or if extended, interest will be imposed on the duration of the delay,” said Fareed, who is the chairman of the Malaysian International Mediation Centre.
The call for a Bar Council review of procedures related to client account management had been made by Ramli Yoosuf, head of the federal commercial crime investigation department.
He proposed that the sole proprietor mechanism be done away with and for clients to be made a signatory to provide a “check and balance”.
A client account is a designated account where lawyers hold monies belonging to the clients on trust, while the sole proprietor mechanism provides lawyers with exclusive control over their clients’ accounts.
Ramli had proposed such a measure after eight cases of CBT were detected, accounting for losses of about RM7.4 million in January alone. He expects more of such cases to be reported.
About 88 cases were detected between 2021 and 2023, which resulted in losses exceeding RM88 million.
Fareed, who was Bar Council president for 2019-2020, said the 96 cases since 2021 appeared to be small when compared to the total count of 21,750 registered lawyers.
He also said that combating CBT among lawyers requires a collective effort between practitioners and enforcement agencies.
“Police should immediately investigate and charge the perpetrators. It is not difficult as there will be a paper trail,” he said, referring to annual audit reports of client accounts.
However, he agreed there should be measures in place to protect clients from “rogue lawyers who are bad apples, bringing a bad name to the profession as a whole”.
Another former Bar president, Salim Bashir, said Solicitors Account Rules 1990 stipulated under the Legal Profession Act 1976, are meant to regulate the management and maintenance of clients’ money held by solicitors.
“Any suggestions for improvement should consider all relevant circumstances, and should aim to prevent unnecessary challenges and burdens on efficient and diligent practices,” said Salim, who headed the Bar for the 2020-2021 term.