Risk and compliance

About 12% of the professionals supervised by anti-money laundering authorities are ‘at risk’, according to the latest annual report of supervisory activity published by HM Treasury. Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing: Supervision Report 2019-20 concludes that efforts should continue to address ‘significant deficiencies’ in supervision by the 22 legal and accountancy sector supervisors. The report covers the activities of the Solicitors Regulation Authority as well as bodies such as the Financial Conduct Authority and Gambling Commission. The SRA…

The High Court today issued a warrant for the arrest of a prominent solicitor after she failed to attend a hearing to answer allegations of contempt of court. Soophia Khan, 41, was automatically suspended in August after the Solicitors Regulation Authority intervened in relation to her Leicester practice Sophie Khan & Co Limited over suspicions of dishonesty. She later announced that the firm had been taken over by a charity called Just for Public Ltd (JFP), adding: ‘Client work continues…

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has awarded the SRA a declining amount in costs in recent years, new figures reveal. A freedom of information request has found that in the past two years, the tribunal granted the regulator £3.9m in costs following a prosecution. This compares with £6m costs awarded in the previous two years. The figures could be distorted by a particularly expensive case, but do nevertheless suggest that the tribunal is becoming tougher on…

Aconveyancers’ regulator is considering making it mandatory for firms to take out stand-alone insurance to cover cyber attacks. The Council for Licensed Conveyancers says cyber incidents present a ‘clear risk’ to clients and the cost of restoring systems and data to protect client interests are likely to be significant – putting firms potentially in jeopardy. Some professional indemnity insurers already require their firms to take out separate cyber insurance to cover those costs, and the CLC…

Candidates logging into their SQE accounts to receive their results were able to see data about other candidates – however, the exam provider for the Solicitors Regulation Authority insists no reportable breach occurred. Nearly all of the 1,090 candidates who took the first ever exam under the new route to qualifying as a solicitor were able to access their results last Thursday. Exam provider Kaplan said issues for eight candidates were resolved early Friday. Subsequently,…

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is venturing into new domains by launching research into gaps in access to justice. The organisation has commissioned the study aiming to find what impact any gaps might have on different groups of consumers. The research runs until the autumn and will include an in-depth examination of how factors such as ethnicity and socio-economic status impact access to legal services. Led by Professors Irene Scopelliti and Zachary Estes from Bayes Business…