Solicitors' client and trust accounts meaning

Your obligations on anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing (CTF) and counter-proliferation financing are contained in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA 2002), the Terrorism Act 2000 (TA 2000), and the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLR 2017), SI 2017/692, as amended. Routing ‘dirty’ money through a solicitors’ client account can ‘clean’ it, which means both you and the account may appear attractive to money launderers. You must have systems in place to protect against use of your account in this way. Remember, you must ensure you do not facilitate money laundering, whether or not any funds actually pass through your account. The risks You occupy a position of trust, and your client account can be seen as a mechanism for making criminal funds seem to come from a legitimate source. Criminals target client accounts to transfer money from one person to another via a trusted third party, masking it as a legal transaction so that it avoids the...

This Practice Note offers guidance on the SRA Codes of Conduct within the SRA Standards and Regulations. The SRA Standards and Regulations comprise two Codes of Conduct—a Code for Solicitors, RELs, RFLs and RSLs, and a Code for Firms. The Standards and Regulations (including the Codes of Conduct) set out the standards and requirements that individual solicitors and firms regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) are expected to achieve and observe: for the benefit of clients, and in the general public interest This Practice Note outlines the structure of the SRA Codes of Conduct, identifies who carries responsibility for adherence, and the potential outcomes of any breach. It contains a series of tables setting out and contrasting how the requirements in the Codes apply to individuals and to firms, highlighting similarities and differences across those duties. For further guidance on the SRA regulatory regime, see the following Practice Notes set out below: SRA regulatory regime SRA Standards...

Third party debt order (TPDO) This Practice Note sets out the nature of a third party debt order (TPDO)—formerly termed a garnishee order—as a method for enforcing a judgment debt, with reference to CPR 72. Such an order compels a third party indebted to the judgment debtor to pay those funds to the judgment creditor instead. It examines when the court may make a TPDO, where appropriate, what such orders can cover, their scope, and their practical effect in practice. For procedural guidance, consult Practice Note: How to apply for a third party debt order (TPDO). Historically, TPDOs, then known as ‘garnishee’ orders, have formed part of the court’s enforcement toolkit since the nineteenth century under successive procedural codes over time. While the terminology and provisions in CPR 72 are comparatively modern, many of the underlying principles are long-standing. Accordingly, authorities on garnishee orders remain relevant, but will be applied, so far as procedural matters are concerned, subject to the overriding objective for the court to deal with cases...