Regulation

Law firms that charge clients for money laundering due diligence checks are at risk of breaking the rules, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has warned in a report that in the main painted a positive picture of how firms are approaching their responsibilities in relation to anti money laundering.

The chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority has responded to strongly-worded criticisms this week from the Legal Services Board by the describing its report as “the best ever” received from the oversight regulator. However, Mr Philip admitted that there were parts of the report and performance review where the SRA had a “different opinion”.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has put conditions on the return to the law of a former Law Society council member who was once found by a Crown Court judge to have been “wholly unsuited” to running a legal practice.

The lack of independence between the legal regulators and representative bodies risks undermining the credibility of regulation and allows the likes of the Law Society and Bar Council to delay reforms that would benefit competition, the Legal Services Board said yesterday.

The Legal Services Board has strongly criticised the Solicitors Regulation Authority over failures in its enforcement work and IT systems – and also warned about the risk that the overhaul of the Handbook “may be too much” for firms and the regulator to cope with. However, the LSB said the legal regulators collectively had all made “substantial progress”.

A barrister who pestered three women at a chambers summer party with suggestive movements and comments has been fined £1,800 by a Bar disciplinary tribunal. It said he failed to act with integrity and behaved in a way likely to diminish the trust and confidence the public places in a barrister or the profession.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has slammed a prosecution by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in the strongest terms, saying it was “appalled and dismayed” that the regulator had asked it to “rubber stamp” a deal which saw charges of dishonesty dropped at the last minute after the solicitor accused made certain admissions.

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) is planning to introduce solicitor-style indemnity insurance arrangements, in a bid to make it easier for law firms to switch regulator. Embracing an open market scheme instead of a master policy would help “make a reality” of the “theoretical” freedom of law firms to change.

A solicitor convicted of failing to provide police with a breath test has been fined £2,500 by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. Arguing that there was no case to answer, Olufemi Olujinmi said regulation should have a “human face” and the incident should be treated as a “moment of madness”.

Two solicitors accused of misusing £573,000 lent to their law firm by the controversial Axiom Legal Financing Fund have been cleared by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal – in part because they relied on assurances given to them by Richard Barnett, who was subsequently struck off himself for misusing Axiom money.