header-logo header-logo

FCA authorisation risk

16 October 2014
Issue: 7626 / Categories: Legal News
printer mail-detail

Family lawyers who advise clients on the financial aspects of their divorces, and firms involved in debt recovery work, may have to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in future.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) says it is aware of more than 1,100 firms that carry out debt recovery, one area of consumer credit work. Solicitors could require FCA authorisation if they discuss finance with a divorce client and negotiate terms with creditors on behalf of that client for settlement of a joint debt. A solicitor advising on a property deal who seeks to amend information held by a credit information agency about their client’s financial standing would also be caught.

Authorisation became an issue on 1 April, when regulation for consumer credit work passed from the Office of Fair Trading to the FCA. Previously, solicitors were regulated under a group licence managed by the SRA. However, the FCA has not continued this arrangement, and transitional arrangements are due to run out on 1 April 2015.

Firms could then rely on an exemption which allows them to be overseen by a “designated professional body”—the SRA, in this case. However, the SRA is reluctant to adopt the required parts of the FCA’s sourcebook, called CONC.

Crispin Passmore, SRA executive director for policy, says: “It is vital that clients receive the proper protections, and the FCA are much better placed to regulate these activities than we are.”

An SRA consultation on the issue runs until 15 December 2014.

Issue: 7626 / Categories: Legal News
printer mail-details

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll