AML Specialist Urges Government To Publish 5AMLD Final Regulations
With less than one month to go until the Fifth Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD) is implemented by the Government, an Anti-Money Laundering (AML) expert is urging the Government to take immediate action to publish the final regulations. Endeavouring to create a world where businesses and organisations are safe from money launderers, Smartsearch are calling on whoever wins the election […]
30 days Until 5th Money Laundering Directive: Are You Ready?
The amendments for the 5th Money Laundering Directive comes into force on 10th January, and with Christmas and New Year in the meantime, this realistically gives lawyers around 15 working days to get everything that is required into place. As such, SearchFlow has prepared a handy check list of some of the most important things that […]
Only A Month Until 5AMLD Is Introduced – Are You Ready?
The Fifth Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD) will be introduced on 10th January 2020 where it will attempt to tackle head on the issues of money laundering. The 5th Directive will affect those practitioners who carry out regulated work and firms will need to update their Anti-Money Laundering (AML) policies, controls and procedures to ensure they […]
Are You Ready For The Account Rules SRA Regulatory Changes?
Regulatory change is imminent for law professionals and law firms as the new SRA Standards and Regulations comes into force on 25th November. In just a few days, the 2011 SRA Handbook will be replaced with new standards, significantly reduced in length from 450 pages to 130 pages. Even though it’s 2011 predecessor has been […]
What Will the 5AMLD Mean For Conveyancers?
As the Fifth Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD) will be introduced on the 10th January 2020 which supersedes the Money Laundering Regulations from 2017, George Stark, director of Veriphy, who provide intelligent compliance for professionals, talks through what it will mean for legal practitioners. He said: “The 5AMLD comes into force within the UK and throughout […]
Shielding Firms And Clients From The Digital Threat: SRA Risk Outlook 2019/20
In the opening six months of 2019, law firms reported that £731,250 worth of client money was lost to cyber crime, prompting the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to deem cyber crime to be one of the greatest threats a law firm will face in 2019/20. Cyber security and information security is now deemed a more severe threat than last year, moving […]
Law Firms Improving Anti-Money Laundering Procedures
Law firms are improving their processes when it comes to anti-money laundering procedures. Reports, about concerns involving law firms handling client money, submitted to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) by accountants, have fallen by 13% in the past year, according to SRA Accountants’ data analysed by Hazlewoods. In 2018, a total of 1,194 qualified reports […]
What Will Brexit Mean For Data Compliance?
As the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) nears its 18 month anniversary, recent research conducted by software supplier Egress have revealed that only 48% of UK businesses are fully compliant with the rules. Organisations had taken their GDPR compliance seriously in the lead up to the May 2018 deadline, but activity started to drop off […]
The Real Cost Of Risk Management – Booking Now Available For Upcoming Legal Eye Conference
Booking is now open for the Legal Eye Conference ‘The real cost of Risk Management’ which is taking place on Thursday 14th November. Legal Eye are running the conference alongside The Cashroom focusing on the practical implications for the bottom line of law forms as they seek to interpret and implement a raft of regulatory […]
Conveyancing Protocol Takes Effect Today
The Law Society has today, Monday 19th August launched its Conveyancing Protocol 2019, which has replaced the previous 2011 version. The update comes following changes to the Conveyancing Quality Scheme effective from May 2019 and addresses some of the most significant changes in conveyancing since the release of the previous version. Most notably the new […]
Are GDPR Fines Too Low?
According to a Twitter poll conducted by Tripwire, the fines given to companies who have broken GDPR laws are still not high enough, despite being in the millions. The mutually agreed General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force on May 25th, 2018, and was designed to modernise laws that protect the personal information of […]
SRA Figures Suggest AML Is On The Rise
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) revealed that there was a 43% increase in money laundering reports in the opening nine months of 2018. In 2017, 152 reports of money laundering allegations were made against SRA regulated law firms. Unfortunately, this increased to 218 between January and September last year. The findings were released as part […]
Government Respond To Select Committee Leasehold Review
The Government has issued a clear warning shot to solicitors putting their own needs in front of their client’s best interests. In the Government’s response to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee Report on Leasehold Reform, an issue was lodged concerning the relationship between conveyancers and developers constituting a conflict of interest. The […]
FCA Fine Bank Of Scotland £45 Million For Fraud Non-Disclosure
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined the Bank of Scotland (BOS) £45 million for failing to disclose information about suspicions it held regarding suspected fraudulent activity within the bank’s Impaired Assets (IAR) team at its branch in Reading. The FCA found a history of uncooperative activity after the bank became suspicious of the actions […]
Law Commission Recommend Less Confusing AML Regulations
The Law Commission have called for more specific guidance to help improve anti-money laundering (AML) in the UK. The UKFIU processed 463,938 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) between April 2017 and March 2018, a 9.8% increase on the volume of SARs received a year earlier. Despite the increase in SARs suggesting that more organisations and sectors […]
Leasehold Ground Rents Now Exceed £447 Million Per Year
The average leaseholder is now paying £319 in ground rent costs every year and have experienced an above inflation rate annual average rise of 5%. According to the NAEA Propertymark’s ‘Leasehold Report’, leaseholders are now paying in excess of £447 million in ground rents. Whilst ground rent contracts usually rise every decade, 10% of the […]
Professional Document Scanning Enhances Data Security Compliance
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) became law in May 2018. Data security is extremely serious as failure to comply could have major consequences for your firm – with the bottom line being it could cost your business millions and cause severe damage to customer relationships and your brand image. With an evolving legal industry, […]
Legal Practising Certificate Fees Frozen For 2019/20
The Law Society have announced that the current practising certificate (PC) fee has been frozen for the third year in a row as regulators look to offer value for money and increase efficiency. The fee of £278 has been charged for the past two years and has been proposed as the fair charge for 2019/20. […]
LeO Offer Updated Advice On Regulatory Compliance In Pre-Engagement Phase
Having investigated 1,560 conveyancing related complaints last year alone, the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) have been reiterating the advice they offer to law firms in a bid to reduce this number in the future. Of the total, only 600 complaints pertained to a costs issues. However, during 2018, over 300 of these costs complaints were upheld […]
The 14-Point Leasehold Pledge And The Freeholder Perspective
In March, 40 house builders and developers signed up to a voluntary 14-point pledge designed to end the practice of unfair and onerous leaseholds. Many of the most influential home builders have committed themselves to the pledge that also includes the Home Building Federation. Throughout the past decade, a multitude of leaseholders have vented their […]
