A third of UK law firms have failed to meet basic anti-money-laundering (AML) standards, according to the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s latest inspection blitz. Of the 833 firms checked, 270 were non-compliant and another 451 were only partly compliant, a statistic that should make any managing partner’s blood run cold.
The SRA handed out about £1.5 million in fines for sloppy risk assessments, weak internal controls, and a general failure to establish where clients’ money was coming from. The regulator said it was disappointed by the sector’s “slow progress,” given that the 2017 AML regulations are hardly new.
Now, in a sharp twist, the Treasury has decided to strip the SRA of its AML oversight powers, transferring them to the Financial Conduct Authority. The SRA insists it’s improving; the government seems unconvinced.
For law firms still cutting corners, the message is brutal in its simplicity: get your compliance house in order or face penalties, embarrassment, and a very public reckoning. The days of the “gentleman solicitor” trusting a handshake are over. Regulators want paperwork, proof, and a paper trail.
