News Bulletin - January 7, 2025
By-law and Audit Updates Effective January 2025
The Commission is announcing revisions to Part Six of the Commission By-law, and providing an important reminder about audit updates, both effective January 2025.
Updates to By-law Part Six - Trust Accounts & Record Keeping
The By-law Task Force presented their report recommending revisions to Part Six - Trust Accounts & Record Keeping at the December 2024 Board meeting. The Board approved their report and the revised By-law. The revised By-law is effective January 2025.
The revisions to Part 6 of the By-law serve two purposes, first the by-law required revisions due to the replacement of the existing Audit Program Guide with two new policies, the Audit Policy and the Brokerage Transaction and Trust Account Policy and second, the By-law needed to be restructured and updated. This new order sets out Part 6 requirements in the following sections:
- trust account requirements
- handling of trust funds
- brokerage transaction and trust record keeping
- trust and brokerage audits
To view the updated By-law, click HERE.
Reminder: Audit & Record Keeping Policies Updates
Reminder that this month, the Commission also replaced the former policy, the Audit Program: A Guide to Real Estate Audits in Nova Scotia, with two separate policies, the Audit Policy and the Brokerage Transaction and Trust Account Policy. New audit training is available for brokers now.
Please note that the versions of the new policies shared when the Commission announced the changes have been updated to include reference points, but the content remains the same as originally shared.
Additionally, to assist with trust audits, the Commission will be working with an accounting firm, Baker Tilly. Baker Tilly will be reviewing and analyzing brokerage trust account records provided to them by the Commissions Compliance Officers. They will prepare reports on their findings back to the Commission.
