- Publication Date
- 2021-07-06
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) conducted an audit of the law firm's compliance with the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLRs 2017) after these regulations came into force in June 2017. Law firms engaged in certain types of work were required to comply with the new regulations by conducting a risk assessment to identify and assess risks associated with money laundering and terrorist financing.
The SRA required all relevant firms to submit a declaration by January 2020, confirming that they had a compliant anti-money laundering firm-wide risk assessment in place. The law firm did not provide this declaration until April 2021, failing to meet the deadline set by the SRA.
As a result of this delay, the SRA imposed an £800 penalty on the law firm and ordered it to pay £600 in costs. This outcome was decided by the SRA and does not include considerations of the specific reasons why a fine was deemed appropriate.