Provision of a banking facility – what is it and why does it matter?

Solicitors Accounts Rule 3.3 requires that you must not use a client account to provide banking facilities to clients or third parties. Yet breaches persist, and the SRA’s enforcement action is intense.

Over the past decade, significant disciplinary cases have exposed how easy it is to drift into providing banking facilities without recognising it.

This 30-minute webinar examines what the rule really means in practice, using real cases to illustrate the risks and the consequences of getting it wrong.

Topics covered include:

• The rule itself: What SRA Rule 3.3 says and why courts have found breaches so serious.
• Proper connection: Why you need a real connection between the funds and the regulated service you are providing.
• When it goes wrong: the landmark cases to understand.
• Red flags to watch: Practical indicators that you may be drifting into providing a banking facility.
• Money laundering risk: Why this breach often goes hand-in-hand with financial crime vulnerabilities.
• What the SRA expects: How to justify your decisions and avoid disciplinary action.
• Every payment into and out of your client account must connect to the regulated work you are actually doing. Without that connection, it is a breach of Rule 3.3. You must be prepared to justify every decision to hold or move client money.