By Legal Futures Associate Checkboard [1]
Responsibility for anti-money laundering (AML) [2] is often passed around.
Many law firms are increasingly frustrated by the growing burden placed upon them to prevent financial crime. Consequently, there’s a sense that banks, as the gatekeepers of the financial system, should take greater responsibility for financial checks like source of funds that the legal profession is increasingly expected to perform.
And it’s true that bank-level controls are typically more extensive. They perform entity screening, transaction screening, and a whole range of fraud and cyber-threat monitoring across the full length and breadth of client relationships.
These systems are in place to stop illicit funds entering the financial system, and to detect crime long before it becomes a genuine threat.
So, criminals will instead look for the weakest link in the compliance chain – and too often, that weak link is law firms.
Tougher controls for tougher criminals
The shift towards tougher AML obligations is happening because financial crime is becoming more sophisticated.
Threats exist across every step of the legal journey from onboarding to completion. Criminals look to law firms to give them credibility, while others take advantage of, for instance, conveyancing law to shield their illicit funds from scrutiny.
If controls are insufficient or breached, responsibility will fall in the lap of the firm closest to the failure – and that’s why it’s so important for law firms not to become that weak link.
Expecting others – such as banks – to do the AML legwork isn’t good enough.
And in turn, owning AML will keep the regulators off your back, and protect your firm’s reputation, clients, bottom line, and long-term viability.
Taking control with Checkboard
With Checkboard, you can do all that without stretching your teams or adding to the compliance burden.
That’s because Checkboard enables you to own your AML processes. Instead of relying on fragmented systems or assuming checks elsewhere are sufficient, firms can implement a structured, defensible compliance framework that includes:
- Biometric identity verification
- Comprehensive AML screening
- Robust source of funds analysis
- Secure digital audit trails
And all this takes place within one integrated platform.
This reduces reliance on manual processes, minimizes the risk of oversight, and creates a clear evidential record that demonstrates proactive compliance.
Own the risk
Diverting responsibility may feel safer in the short term, but when something goes wrong, regulators won’t accept the excuse.
Criminals will always probe for gaps, and those gaps are often created by law firms, as the SRA has repeatedly identified.
By taking ownership of AML and equipping themselves with the right technology, law firms will shift away from reactive compliance towards robust controls and policies.
And with Checkboard on your side, law firms can become an iron link in the compliance chain.
Get in touch to find out more [3].