Compliance & Regulation
Solicitor fails to overturn SDT finding over misuse of client money
A solicitor struck off for using client money to prop up his firm has failed in his appeal to the High Court – and also in his effort to remain anonymous.
Solicitor failed to do proper checks on PEP and misused client account
A solicitor who failed to undertake proper AML checks on a client who was a politically exposed person and also allowed him to use his firm’s client as a banking facility, has been fined.
Rapist’s conviction not unsafe due to his advocate’s later strike-off
A man convicted of rape has lost an appeal against conviction that was based partly on the fact that his solicitor was facing disciplinary action by the SRA at the time.
Regulators told how to implement new economic crime duty
The LSB has made a series of relatively minor changes to its new statutory guidance on how legal regulators should implement the new regulatory objective to tackle economic crime.
Partner struck off after sticking “head in the sand” over bill
A partner whose “head in the sand” approach meant a case spiralled out of control after he failed to serve points of dispute on a bill of costs in time has been struck off.
SRA plans for law firm complaints handling risk “overregulation”
Solicitors Regulation Authority plans for new rules on how law firms handle complaints could lead to “overregulation”, the Law Society has warned.
SRA slaps £114k fine on law firm for AML failings
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has fined a South-East London law firm £114,000 for anti-money laundering failures, one of the largest to date.
New BSB chair favours radical reform of legal regulation
The former chair of CILEX – who has previously called for a radical shift in the way lawyers are regulated – is to take over as chair of the Bar Standards Board in September.
Law Society “not assured” of SRA’s performance post-Axiom Ince
The Law Society has ratcheted up the pressure on the SRA over Axiom Ince by saying it is “not sufficiently assured” that the regulator is doing its job properly.
Government still eyeing client account interest to fund free legal advice
The Ministry of Justice is taking forward work on whether interest on lawyers’ client accounts could be diverted to fund legal services for people unable to afford advice.
Blog
Change in regulator shouldn’t make AML less of a priority
While SRA fines for AML have been climbing, many in the profession aren’t confident they will get any relief from the FCA, a body used to dealing with a highly regulated industry.
There are 17 million wills waiting to be written
The main reason cited by people who do not have a will was a lack of awareness as to how to arrange one. As a professional community, we seem to be failing to get our message across.
The case for a single legal services regulator: why the current system is failing
From catastrophic firm collapses to endemic compliance failures, the evidence is mounting that the current multi-regulator model is fundamentally broken.
