Home Buying & Selling Group announce launch of BASPI dataset
The Home Buying & Selling Group (HBSG), charged with improving the home purchase process for consumers, has today (15th March 2021) announced it has produced a dataset for its Buying and Selling Property Information (BASPI). The BASPI is a dataset designed to be the ‘one source of truth’ when it comes to upfront information about […]
Industry backs Call for Kindness
Since launching our Call for Kindness campaign, we’ve seen the sector really getting behind the initiative as we all continue to navigate through the next couple of tricky months. But we must remember we’re all in this together. The fact that the industry has come together demonstrates the need for recognition of our colleagues in […]
SLC announces release of its 31st Client Guide
The Society of Licensed Conveyancers (SLC) has for a number of years been compiling a comprehensive library of Client Guides for members to provide their clients covering a wide range of subjects. The Guides, which are kept up to date according to any regulatory or other change include guides on legal matters (such as joint […]
Budget 2021: SDLT extension to increase pressure on sector
The coronavirus pandemic has ripped a hole in the UK’s finances, and we all know that steps need to be taken to begin to set the UK on the right path once again, now there is light at the end of the lockdown tunnel. Addressing Parliament, Chancellor Rishi Sunak, focused on the roadmap and the […]
Covid has changed criminal behaviour
Jo Hodges, Sales and Marketing Director at Redbrick Solutions shares her thoughts with Today’s Conveyancer about the way the coronavirus pandemic has changed criminal behaviour. It is estimated that organised crime costs the UK economy more than £37bn every year, and the National Crime Agency believes there are 4,500 organised crime groups operating in the […]
Professional negligence case results in hefty payout
Christopher Hugh Gosden and Jane Shirley Kaye have successfully won a High Court appeal against former Manchester law firm Halliwell Landau being awarded £985,300 in damages. The firm failed to register a restriction against a house at the Land Registry, and His Honour Judge Pelling QC granted the appeal due to professional negligence. HHJ Pelling […]
Updated practice guides
HMLR have updated their Execution of deeds (PG8), practice guide. Page summary: Advice on the execution of deeds that are to be submitted to HM Land Registry (practice guide 8). Change made: Section 10 has been expanded slightly to clarify the position in respect of counterparts. Section 12 has been amended to confirm that a deed […]
CLC’s first Compliance Risk Agenda highlights compliance priorities
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has published its first Compliance Risk Agenda to highlight issues that the firms and individuals it regulates need to be mindful of to ensure that they do not find themselves out of compliance. It details issues that CLC staff have encountered during their monitoring and inspection work, from those […]
Industry reacts to extra funding promised for cladding issue
Addressing Parliament this afternoon, Robert Jenrick has promised an extra £3.5bn of funding to remove unsafe cladding from high-rise buildings over 18m “at no cost to residents”. Jonathan Frankel, head of the Property Litigation Dept at Cavendish Legal Group, said: “The £3.5bn announced today is completely insufficient to deal with even a fraction of the […]
£2.5m in client money lost in early 2020 – good policies and procedures essential say regulators
With the housing market booming and mortgage applications at the highest levels since 2007, regulators are calling on conveyancers and law firms to ensure they, their staff and their clients are informed and vigilant. Speaking at a webinar organised by Minerva ,Twindig’s housing analyst Anthony Codling joined regulators Sean Hankin of the SRA and CLC’s […]
AML Risks – why did I agree to be the MLRO?!
This is a question I ask myself many times each day since being appointed the MLRO for Weightmans in May 2020! Faced with the current economic uncertainties caused by the pandemic, Brexit, new AML risks identified by the SRA in its Risk Outlook 2020/2021 including the shift from face to face to on-line identification/verification procedures, […]
Covid Guidance Documents Updated for Conveyancers
Updated guidance for conveyancing practitioners around dealing with the continued impact of the Coronavirus has been released. The original guidance was compiled by The Law Society, CILEx, the SLC, the Conveyancing Association and the Bold Legal Group. This latest iteration follows on from the work these bodies have been doing in consultation with their respective […]
FREE Webinar: A Review of the Updated LSAG AML Guidance
If you’re an MLCO or MLRO, hopefully by now you have had chance to grab a copy of the latest LSAG Draft AML Guidance and started to thumb through its content. If you have, then you’ll have noted the many references to “Must”, “Should” and “May”. For those familiar with Lexcel and CQS, you’ll know […]
Register tax advice work now or face SRA enforcement, law firms warned
Solicitor firms could face enforcement by the profession’s regulator if they do not register their tax advice work under new anti-money-laundering (AML) obligations, the Law Society of England and Wales has cautioned. Earlier this month, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) stated that solicitors had until 10 January to check if any tax advice work they […]
New AML Guidance needs a careful review
With the release of draft guidance on anti-money laundering guidance on 20 January 2021, there has been a furry of conversation about what this means. Amy Bell from Teal Compliance, has shared her recent blog with the readers of Today’s Conveyancer to share her thoughts on the new draft guidance. Since 2017 LSAG have agreed […]
Is your firm making these compliance mistakes?
Olly Thornton-Berry, co-founder and Managing Director of Thirdfort has shared his insight into some of the errors firms can make when it comes to ensuring they remain compliant. The subject of compliance has been at the forefront of many conveyancers’ minds in recent months. HM Land Registry’s support of digital ID, coupled with the Covid-19 […]
AML guidance shake-up to help conveyancers
The Legal Sector Affinity Group (LSAG), which includes all UK legal sector professional bodies and supervisors, has completed an extensive revision and redraft of its anti-money laundering (AML) guidance. This replaces previous versions of the guidance and is currently pending approval by HM Treasury, although the guidance is currently available in draft form. This draft […]
Passwords, Phishing and the Dark Web
Continuing with our compliance theme, Matthew Locker, a Cyber Security Consultant at Apstorm has shared his ideas on how law firms can remain compliant in the modern world. In today’s digital society, passwords have become a necessary evil and are the guardians of some of our most important information, e.g. online retail, banking, email accounts, […]
Financial risks and compliance: what firms need to know
Alex Holt, Director of Business Development for The Cashroom has shared his thoughts with Today’s Conveyancer about the financial risks and compliance firms need to adhere to. For a law firm providing conveyancing services to its clients, there is no scarier part of their business than their finance function. Within that mysterious business area lies […]
Responding to a Cyber Security Breach
Continuing with our compliance theme, Matthew Locker, a Cyber Security Consultant at Apstorm has shared his ideas on how law firms can remain compliant in the modern world. The legal sector is rich in sensitive data and financial transactions, unfortunately, this makes it an attractive target for many cyber actors including, criminals, activists and possibly […]
