21Appointment of receiver or manager

21 Appointment of receiver or manager

(1)  The Director, in accordance with this section, may appoint a receiver or manager for a conveyancer's business if –

(a) the conveyancer has become bankrupt or insolvent or has taken the benefit, as a debtor, of a law relating to bankrupt or insolvent debtors; or

(b) there are grounds for the exercise of the Director's powers under section 38 ; or

(c) the conveyancer's licence has been cancelled or suspended under this Act; or

(d) the conveyancer has died or disappeared; or

(e) the Director is of the opinion that a fiduciary default has been, or may have been, committed in respect of the conveyancer's trust account; or

(f) the Director is of the opinion that the conveyancer has acted contrary to this Act or has otherwise acted unlawfully, improperly or negligently in the conduct of his or her business; or

(g) the conveyancer has requested it.

(2)  For the purposes of subsection (1) , the Director may appoint –

(a) a person who holds a licence under this Act, other than the conveyancer to whom subsection (1) relates; or

(b) a legal practitioner –

to manage the conveyancer's business for such period as the Director specifies or to carry on that business with a view to winding it up in the interests of the conveyancer's clients.

(3)  For the purposes of subsection (1) , the Director may appoint a suitable person to be a receiver of the trust money held by the conveyancer.

(4)  If a receiver is appointed, the Director may serve on an authorised deposit-taking institution in which the conveyancer maintains a trust account a notice that instructs the institution not to permit any withdrawal to be made from the trust account except by, or with the authority of, the receiver.

(5)  An authorised deposit-taking institution must comply with an instruction contained in a notice served on it under subsection (4) .