header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
24 March 2023 / Clare Hughes-Williams , Tom Bedford
Issue: 8018 / Categories: Features , Profession , Regulatory , Fraud
printer mail-detail

Compliance crackdown ahead?

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
115791
Clare Hughes-Williams & Tom Bedford examine concerns about the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s increasing powers on SLAPPs & economic crime
  • The Solicitors Regulation Authority has indicated its intention to crack down on economic crime and strategic litigation against public participation (SLAPPs), with the penalties for transgressions looking set to increase.
  • The legal profession will need to find a way to balance client interests with its duties under the code of conduct.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) already has wide ranging powers which it uses to regulate the profession and, in extreme cases, to close law firms.

Until last year, the maximum fine that the SRA could impose without referring a case to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) was capped at £2,000. In July 2022, the cap increased to £25,000 and may rise further when the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill is introduced.

Two critical areas of focus for the SRA are anti-money laundering and the prevention of economic crime generally, and strategic litigation against public participation, or SLAPPs.

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

Fieldfisher partner appointed president as LSLA marks milestone year

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Firm promotes two lawyers to partnership across employment and family

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Firm promotes five lawyers to partnership across key growth areas

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Divorce ‘nuclear weapon’ freezes assets but entangles outsiders
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
NLJ this week: What counts as ‘rent’? Court says labour alone won’t do
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Your magistrates’ court needs you!
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
NLJ this week: Freed but failed—justice system leaves the innocent empty-handed
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
NLJ this week: Clarity on whistleblowing, settlements and tribunal limits
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll