Articles
SRA Sanctions QuestionnaireJuly 24, 2024Concern has been expressed about a questionnaire from the SRA dealing with the arrangements firms have in place for the management of sanctions risks. This article considers some of the issues involved and in particular on the imposition of strict liability for having financial dealings with any designated person under the regime.
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SRA Continues Focus on AML ComplianceJune 25, 2024Recent regulatory proceedings against Dentons and Clyde & Co, combined with other lower profile fines, for alleged AML infringements raise the question as to whether the SRA is truly taking a proportionate stance in relation to regulatory enforcement for historic breaches.Read More
It’s time to be afraid, very afraidMay 24, 2024Are solicitors about to be rendered ineffective by the latest SRA plans to abolish client accounts? Are the demands of the consumer lobby about to have the opposite effect and reduce access to legal representation? In this article, we look at some of the more recent plans to change the way the legal sector operates and we ask the question whether law firms are about to be so over regulated that they can no longer function as viable businesses.Read More
LSB to Improve Complaints HandlingMay 20, 2024Legal Services Board issues Requirements, Guidance, and a statement of policy to regulators with aim of improving first tier complaints handling and helping ensure complaints dealt with promptly and as close as possible to source. This article looks at the requirements and what they might mean for law firms.Read More
Be Alert to Cyber FraudApril 22, 2024As the press carries yet another report of a law firm client having been tricked into making substantial payments into the accounts of fraudsters, we take a look at what firms can do to help prevent such frauds from happening.Read More
CDD Evidence on Individual ClientsApril 18, 2024The question of whether seeing the client’s personal documents or electronic ID evidence is sufficient when onboarding new clients often arises. This article looks at some of the factors to be taken into account.Read More
AML – Revised SRA Sectoral Risk AssessmentMarch 21, 2024Just as firms are required to take a risk-based approach to AML best practice, so too must the SRA take a risk-based approach to directing its resources and focusing its efforts most on supervising the firms that are most likely to be used to launder money. The SRA has recently published its latest sectoral risk assessment which sets out information on money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing risk that they consider most relevant for firms they supervise.Read More
Comprehensive AML Risk AssessmentsFebruary 19, 2024The vast majority of solicitors firms in private practice are required not only to conduct a regular AML firmwide risk assessment but also to assess the risks associated with proliferation financing and the sanctions regime as operated by the Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation (“OFSI”). This article looks at those requirements and at the Infolegal three-in-one risk assessment process.Read More
Liability Risks from Helpline AdviceFebruary 12, 2024The extent of a firm’s legal responsibilities concerning helplines and clinic sessions was examined recently in the Court of Appeal case of Carol Miller v Irwin Mitchell LLP. This article looks briefly at that case and at some of its implications.Read More
AML – Fines, Risk Assessments, Sanctions and BreachesJanuary 24, 2024As the SRA continues to monitor and inspect many firms’ AML compliance arrangements, and proceeds apace with the issuing of fines, it has now issued new guidance on the need for Sanctions Risk Assessments. In this article we look at the recent fines handed out by the SRA and at the recent SRA guidance on sanctions risk assessments.Read More