A Member was retained by a law firm to complete an Agreed Upon Procedures Engagement (“AUP”), and to complete the accountant’s portion of a Law Society Trust Report which the law firm was required to submit to the Law Society of British Columbia.
The Member filed a misleading Trust Report when they did not report several exceptions to the Law Society rules on the Trust Report, including trust shortages, missing monthly trust reconciliations, and incomplete accounting records. They did not provide an AUP report in accordance with Canadian Standard on Related Services (CSRS) 4400 to their client or to the Law Society.
The Investigation Committee determined that the Member contravened the following Rules of the CPABC Code of Professional Conduct:
201.1 - Maintenance of the good reputation of the profession
202.1 - Integrity and due care
203 - Professional competence
205 (a) - False or misleading documents and oral representations
206.1 - Compliance with professional standards
The Investigation Committee recommended that the Member:
- accept a reprimand;
- pay investigation expenses of $4,129; and
- agree to not perform AUP engagements with respect to Law Society Trust Reports in future.