sec.54Power to employ agents

### sec.54 Power to employ agents A trustee may, instead of acting personally, employ and pay an agent, whether a solicitor, accountant, financial institution, trustee corporation, financial services licensee, regulated principal or other person, to transact any business or do any act required to be transacted or done in the execution of the trust or the administration of the trust property, including the receipt and payment of money, and the keeping and audit of trust accounts, and shall be entitled to be allowed and paid all charges and expenses so incurred, and shall not be responsible for the default of any such agent employed in good faith and without negligence. A trustee may appoint any person to act as the trustee’s agent or attorney for the purpose of selling, converting, collecting, getting in, and executing and perfecting assurances of, or managing or cultivating, or otherwise administering any property real or personal, movable or immovable, subject to the trust in any place outside the State, or executing or exercising any discretion or trust or power vested in the trustee in relation to any such property, with such ancillary powers, and with and subject to such provisions and restrictions, as the trustee may think fit, including a power to appoint substitutes, and shall not, by reason only of the trustee having made any such appointment, be responsible for any loss arising thereby. Without limiting the generality of the powers conferred by subsections (1) and (2) , a trustee may— appoint a solicitor to be the trustee’s agent to receive and give a discharge for any money or valuable consideration or property receivable by the trustee under the trust, by permitting the solicitor to have the custody of, and to produce, a deed or instrument having in the body thereof or endorsed thereon a receipt for the money or valuable consideration or property, the deed or instrument being executed, or the endorsed receipt being signed, by the person entitled to give a receipt for that consideration; or appoint a financial institution or solicitor to be the trustee’s agent to receive and give a discharge for any money payable to the trustee under or by virtue of a policy of insurance, by permitting the financial institution or solicitor to have the custody of and to produce the policy of insurance with a receipt signed by the trustee; and the production, by the solicitor, of any such deed or instrument as is mentioned in paragraph (a) shall have the same validity and effect as if the person appointing the solicitor had not been a trustee. A trustee shall not be chargeable with a breach of trust, by reason only of the trustee having made, or concurred in making, any appointment such as is mentioned in subsection (3) ; but nothing in that subsection exempts a trustee from any liability that the trustee would have incurred if this Act and any enactment replaced by this Act had not been passed, where the trustee permits any money, valuable consideration or property therein mentioned to remain in the hands or under the control of the financial institution or solicitor for a longer period than is reasonably necessary to enable the financial institution or solicitor, as the case may be, to pay or transfer it to the trustee. Subsections (3) and (4) apply whether the money or valuable consideration or property was or is received before or after the commencement of this Act. In this section— financial services licensee means a financial services licensee, defined under the Corporations Act , section 761A , whose licence covers dealing in, or providing advice about, securities. regulated principal means a regulated principal— defined under the Corporations Act , section 1430 ; and dealing in, or providing advice about, securities as authorised by the Corporations Act , part 10.2 , division 1 , subdivision D. s 54 amd 1997 No. 17 s 70 ; 2003 No. 4 s 27 (sec.54-ssec.1) A trustee may, instead of acting personally, employ and pay an agent, whether a solicitor, accountant, financial institution, trustee corporation, financial services licensee, regulated principal or other person, to transact any business or do any act required to be transacted or done in the execution of the trust or the administration of the trust property, including the receipt and payment of money, and the keeping and audit of trust accounts, and shall be entitled to be allowed and paid all charges and expenses so incurred, and shall not be responsible for the default of any such agent employed in good faith and without negligence. (sec.54-ssec.2) A trustee may appoint any person to act as the trustee’s agent or attorney for the purpose of selling, converting, collecting, getting in, and executing and perfecting assurances of, or managing or cultivating, or otherwise administering any property real or personal, movable or immovable, subject to the trust in any place outside the State, or executing or exercising any discretion or trust or power vested in the trustee in relation to any such property, with such ancillary powers, and with and subject to such provisions and restrictions, as the trustee may think fit, including a power to appoint substitutes, and shall not, by reason only of the trustee having made any such appointment, be responsible for any loss arising thereby. (sec.54-ssec.3) Without limiting the generality of the powers conferred by subsections (1) and (2) , a trustee may— appoint a solicitor to be the trustee’s agent to receive and give a discharge for any money or valuable consideration or property receivable by the trustee under the trust, by permitting the solicitor to have the custody of, and to produce, a deed or instrument having in the body thereof or endorsed thereon a receipt for the money or valuable consideration or property, the deed or instrument being executed, or the endorsed receipt being signed, by the person entitled to give a receipt for that consideration; or appoint a financial institution or solicitor to be the trustee’s agent to receive and give a discharge for any money payable to the trustee under or by virtue of a policy of insurance, by permitting the financial institution or solicitor to have the custody of and to produce the policy of insurance with a receipt signed by the trustee; and the production, by the solicitor, of any such deed or instrument as is mentioned in paragraph (a) shall have the same validity and effect as if the person appointing the solicitor had not been a trustee. (sec.54-ssec.4) A trustee shall not be chargeable with a breach of trust, by reason only of the trustee having made, or concurred in making, any appointment such as is mentioned in subsection (3) ; but nothing in that subsection exempts a trustee from any liability that the trustee would have incurred if this Act and any enactment replaced by this Act had not been passed, where the trustee permits any money, valuable consideration or property therein mentioned to remain in the hands or under the control of the financial institution or solicitor for a longer period than is reasonably necessary to enable the financial institution or solicitor, as the case may be, to pay or transfer it to the trustee. (sec.54-ssec.5) Subsections (3) and (4) apply whether the money or valuable consideration or property was or is received before or after the commencement of this Act. (sec.54-ssec.6) In this section— financial services licensee means a financial services licensee, defined under the Corporations Act , section 761A , whose licence covers dealing in, or providing advice about, securities. regulated principal means a regulated principal— defined under the Corporations Act , section 1430 ; and dealing in, or providing advice about, securities as authorised by the Corporations Act , part 10.2 , division 1 , subdivision D. - (a) appoint a solicitor to be the trustee’s agent to receive and give a discharge for any money or valuable consideration or property receivable by the trustee under the trust, by permitting the solicitor to have the custody of, and to produce, a deed or instrument having in the body thereof or endorsed thereon a receipt for the money or valuable consideration or property, the deed or instrument being executed, or the endorsed receipt being signed, by the person entitled to give a receipt for that consideration; or - (b) appoint a financial institution or solicitor to be the trustee’s agent to receive and give a discharge for any money payable to the trustee under or by virtue of a policy of insurance, by permitting the financial institution or solicitor to have the custody of and to produce the policy of insurance with a receipt signed by the trustee; - (a) defined under the Corporations Act , section 1430 ; and - (b) dealing in, or providing advice about, securities as authorised by the Corporations Act , part 10.2 , division 1 , subdivision D.