Compliance & Regulation

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has handed out more than £55,000 in fines to firms and individual lawyers for breaches of anti-money laundering requirements.

The Bar Council has warned the Bar Standards Board not to go too far in its oversight of chambers and said its idea of encouraging smaller sets to merge is “inappropriate”.

A management consultant with significant retail and healthcare experience has been named as the new chair of the Legal Services Consumer Panel.

A conveyancer who forgot to put in place a declaration of trust on the ownership of a property in the rush to beat the stamp duty holiday deadline in 2021 has been rebuked.

A solicitor who contacted hundreds of people on a spreadsheet he was accidentally sent to ask if they wanted to bring data protection claims over the error has been rebuked.

A legal secretary convicted of offences to supply class A drugs due to her involvement in a county lines gang has been banned from working in the solicitors’ profession.

A campaign group has urged the legal profession to support legislative reform to stop the abuse of non-disclosure agreements.

A partner who signed statements of truth in six cases using an absent assistant solicitor’s signature has been handed a short suspension.

Claims management companies have been warned to stop using their Financial Conduct Authority authorisation to lend credibility to their unregulated activities.

Concern among MPs about the fall-out from the collapse of Sheffield-based SSB Law is growing rapidly, while one of the insurers that was pursuing its clients for costs has paused its activities.