Legal Services Board approves SRA guidance enabling unlimited fines for economic crime
The Legal Services Board has approved the Solicitors Regulation Authority's amended fining guidance, letting it impose unlimited fines on solicitors and traditional law firms for economic crime without referring cases to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. The power comes from the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, which removes the £25,000 cap for such misconduct starting on or after March 4, 2024. The LSB handled the application under its exemption procedure.
Key points
- The LSB used its exemption procedure because the SRA is implementing a power granted by Parliament rather than its own rule change.Legal Futures
- The act removes the £25,000 cap for economic crime misconduct that began on or after March 4, 2024.Legal Futures
- Economic crime covers theft, fraud, false accounting, bribery, tax evasion, money laundering, terrorist financing and sanctions breaches.Legal Futures
- SRA guidance says a fine would usually not exceed 5% of a firm's turnover, though decision makers keep discretion.Legal Futures
- Kingsley Napley lawyers questioned whether breaches of the 2017 Money Laundering Regulations fall within the new power.Legal Futures
Sources2 articles across 1 outlet
Filed under
RegulationUKEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023ComplianceProfessional responsibilityRegulatoryFor practitionersFor governance