- Publication Date
- 2021-07-27
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) conducted an audit to ensure compliance with the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLRs 2017). These regulations came into force in June 2017 and require law firms to undertake specific obligations.
Law firms must perform a risk assessment to identify and evaluate their business's exposure to risks related to money laundering and terrorist financing. The SRA mandated that all relevant law firms complete a declaration by January 2020 to confirm their adherence to having a compliant anti-money laundering firm-wide risk assessment.
The law firm failed to submit the required declaration until May 2021. This delay constituted a breach of the SRA's requirements. Consequently, the SRA imposed a penalty of £800 on the law firm.