40.—(1) At any time after the death of a solicitor who immediately before his death was practising as a sole solicitorF1. . . the Council may, if they think fit, by notice inform the personal representatives of such solicitor and any bank[F1 or building society] with whom[F1 an] account in the name of the solicitor or his firm (being an account in the title of which the word “client” is required by regulations made under Article 33, to appear) is kept, that the provisions of this Article shall apply to suchF1. . . account and on the date of the service of such notices (or if the notices are served on different dates, on the date of the service of the last notice) the right to operate on or otherwise deal with suchF1. . . account shall, notwithstanding any enactment or rule of law to the contrary, vest in the Society to the exclusion of any personal representatives of such solicitor and shall be exercisable as from such date as aforesaid.
(2) For the purpose of this Article a certificate signed by the secretary and certifying that[F1 an] account is an account in the title of which the word “client” is required by such regulations as aforesaid to appear shall be evidence of the matter certified.