Bahamas Bar Association representatives will meet with the Compliance Commission tomorrow to discuss whether the regulator can require attorneys to submit an on site inspection and audit of client records and books, an issue that is the subject of a court action seeking to overturn the finacial regulatory regime on constitutional grounds because it violates attorney/client privilege.
Wayne Munroe, the bar Association’s new president, told The Tribune that the Compliance Commission was notified in a letter written by out-going president, Dr. Peter Maynard, that attorneys who complied with the on-site inspection demands would breach their “professional obligation” and client rights to legal privilege. Those who complied would be subject to “discipline”, which could range from a reprimand to an attorney’s name being struck from the Bar record.
Mr. Munroe said that if the Commission had information relating to a particular client, an attorney could comply with inspection requests once the client had provided a waiver for the release of the information.
He added that the Bar Association has invited the Commission to demonstrate how its inspection mandate does not breach the constitutional rights of attorneys’ clients. Mr. Munroe said there were an abundance of cases under regulatory regimes that allow for similar supervisory bodies to seek information, but stipulate that attorney/client privilege still applies.
The controversy has arisen due to the passage of the Financial Transactions Reporting Act (FTRA) in December 2000, and a legal challenge to this nation’s financial laws by two attorneys, Maurice Glinton and Leandra Esfakis, who are backed by the Bar Association.
Source: The Tribune
