header-logo header-logo

03 January 2019 / Frank Maher
Issue: 7822 / Categories: Features , Risk management , Legal services , Regulatory , Profession
printer mail-detail

Controlling risk

​Frank Maher shares some predictions for law firm risk

  • Examines four key areas: anti-money laundering: data protection; professional regulation; and professional indemnity insurance.

This article contains some predictions for the next two years based on the writer’s experience as a member of a specialist law firm providing legal advice on professional regulation and professional indemnity insurance to a cross-section of the legal profession, including many of the world’s leading UK and US-based law firms.

Anti-Money Laundering

Further regulatory action is inevitable, with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) under scrutiny from The Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS) and increasing pressure from HMRC and Parliament.

Firms will face regulatory action for breaching their own policies. This may even be so where they were complying with the general standards of the profession.

The SRA, under OPBAS scrutiny, will continue to audit firms. Many firms have not done their risk assessments, over a year after The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLR 2017) came

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

Sharpe Pritchard—Victoria Heald-Barraclough

Sharpe Pritchard—Victoria Heald-Barraclough

Magic Circle hire strengthens Sharpe Pritchard’s infrastructure finance capability

Lewis Silkin—Iskander Fernandez

Lewis Silkin—Iskander Fernandez

Lewis Silkin adds corporate crime specialist to growing dispute resolution team

Morr & Co—Michael Charalambous

Morr & Co—Michael Charalambous

Morr Co strengthens private client team with partner appointment

NEWS
Should every solicitor found to have acted dishonestly face automatic striking off? The answer, argues John Gould, chair of Russell-Cooke LLP in NLJ this week, is no 
Winning an arbitral award against a state is one thing; enforcing it is another
Can government success in court tell us whether the rule of law is healthy? 
Poorly drafted dispute resolution clauses can trigger litigation before the real dispute is even addressed
As cryptocurrency becomes mainstream, family lawyers are increasingly confronting the challenges it creates on divorce
back-to-top-scroll