Solicitors Regulation Authority meaning

Checklist The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), a part of HM Treasury, is responsible for communicating, implementing and enforcing financial sanctions in the UK. It also holds powers to grant licences that permit an activity or transaction which would otherwise be prohibited under the UK financial sanctions regime. OFSI may only issue licences connected to financial sanctions. If your application concerns a different sanction, such as trade or immigration, you must send it to the appropriate Department. See further Practice Note: Understanding the financial sanctions regime. This Checklist brings together the requirements for applying to OFSI for a financial sanctions licence, alongside recommendations to help make your application faster and easier. These are drawn from multiple sources, including the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (SAMLA 2018) and regulations made under it, various OFSI guidance materials, and guidance from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). This Checklist also signposts relevant content to support compliance with these requirements and suggestions. A section is provided for you to indicate completion...

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is placing greater emphasis on workplace culture and wellbeing. It has released guidance on the risks of not safeguarding and supporting colleagues in the working environment, and has completed a thematic review of workplace culture. This Workplace culture—SRA action list compiles self-assessment questions for law firms and suggested steps to strengthen culture, as highlighted and recommended by the SRA in its review. For more on wellbeing, see Practice Note: Protecting staff wellbeing in the workplace environment—law firms. Mental health and challenging stigma Questions to ask yourself Does your firm: tackle stigma and build awareness through activities such as wellbeing days? equip managers with proactive training to recognise signs of stress or burnout? encourage colleagues to train as mental health first aiders to support wellbeing? schedule regular one-to-one meetings to enable discussions about health and wellbeing? use risk assessments to track risks, including the matters/clients you handle? foster psychological safety at work so people feel...

Paul Philip, chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), told the watchdog’s annual compliance officers conference that the regulator will issue 'further guidance' for the profession. He gave this assurance after the High Court ruled in September 2025 that non-solicitors and staff without specific litigation rights cannot conduct litigation. The ruling has threatened the financial viability of firms that depend on paralegals, trainees and members of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives, known as CILEX...

The survey gathered input from 14 of the 28 insurers listed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) for the 2024 indemnity year. Conducted anonymously via Qualtrics and in partnership with the International Underwriting Association, it found that 38% of respondents foresaw potential difficulties at renewal, although the exact tally was not provided. Browne Jacobson reported that solicitors began considering leaving the PII market after the Court of Appeal’s January 2024 decision in Discovery Land Co LLC and others v Axis Specialty Europe SE. The firm noted that the ruling heightened worries about tightly drawn aggregation of claims under the SRA’s minimum terms and conditions, which influence the limit of indemnity. Ed Anderson, a partner at Browne Jacobson who deals with PII, ...

Misuse of AI in court and the consequences (Ayinde v Haringey & Al-Haroun v Qatar National Bank) R (on the application of Frederick Ayinde) v Haringey London Borough Council; Al-Haroun v Qatar National Bank QPSC and another company [2025] EWHC 1383 (Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling sets out explicit directions for lawyers who deploy AI, so that they remain within their professional obligations. The court also outlined what must happen when practitioners discover that they, their wider team, or their client has misused AI. Generative AI systems, including ChatGPT, are not a dependable source of legal research. They can offer convincing but inaccurate claims, refer to authorities that do not exist and attribute quotations to genuine materials that are not present in those texts. Both the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Bar Standards Board have cautioned against such ‘hallucinations’. Where lawyers nevertheless use generative AI, they owe a professional duty to verify the correctness of any research. That duty equally...

As of 31 January 2020, the UK left the EU and the EEA. This Practice Note introduces: the General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (EU GDPR) framework (which applied within UK law up to the end of the Brexit implementation period—11 pm UK time on 31 December 2020—and continues to operate across the EEA; therefore, any references in this Practice Note to EEA or EU states should be read as also covering the UK until that period concluded) the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation, Retained Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (UK GDPR) framework (which applies under UK law from the end of the Brexit implementation period) Where there is no need to draw a distinction, this Practice Note refers to both as ‘GDPR’ for ease. When looking at the routine processing of personal data, the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018) should be consulted together, as both sets of provisions have direct effect. Practitioners will generally...

This Practice Note is aimed at law firms regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). It sets out the SRA’s supervisory and enforcement powers under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017, as amended (MLR 2017), and how these have been broadened by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA 2023). A separate Practice Note explains how to get through an SRA anti-money laundering (AML) inspection: How to survive an SRA AML inspection. For wider guidance on the SRA’s supervision and enforcement roles, see the following Practice Notes: SRA’s supervision function SRA’s enforcement function SRA enforcement strategy Regulatory status of the SRA under the AML regime The MLR 2017 designate professional bodies with responsibility for AML supervision. The Law Society is the named supervisor for solicitors and law firms in England and Wales, but it delegates regulatory functions to the SRA, so the SRA is responsible for ensuring the solicitors and...

L&D encompasses all learning opportunities across the organisation. It includes, though is not limited to: taking part in training courses completing online tutorials watching webinars on-the-job coaching mentoring reading researching Regulatory requirements SRA The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) views learning as vital. Solicitors no longer have to tally continuing professional development (CPD) hours each year. Under the SRA’s competency regime, they must reflect on the quality of their practice, identify any learning and development needs, and then address them to ensure their knowledge and skills are current and they are competent to practise. For more information about the competence regime, see: Continuing competence—in-house lawyers—overview. Before the SRA competence statement, the SRA made no distinction between technical legal skills development and personal development. The competence statement addresses this, defining what solicitors must be able to do to deliver a proper standard of service and setting out core standards all solicitors and registered European lawyers (RELs) should undertake...

1 Introduction and purpose 1.1 We maintain robust arrangements designed to recognise, oversee and control every material risk to our business, including any that could reasonably stem from our connected practices. 1.2 We continually assess and review our financial resilience and the ongoing sustainability of the business. 1.3 On becoming aware that the firm will cease to practise, we are under a regulatory obligation to carry out a clear, timely and orderly wind‑down of operations, and to notify the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) prior to closure. 1.4 We are likewise obliged to safeguard client confidentiality, and that obligation endures even after a client’s matter has fully finished. 1.5 Shutting a practice also entails a range of further actions and demands careful, proper advance planning. 1.6 This plan: 1.6.1 aims to ensure we undertake all necessary and required steps to close the firm; 1.6.2 aims to ensure clients’ confidentiality is preserved throughout the closure process and thereafter; and 1.6.3 sets...

This Deed This Deed is entered into on [ insert date ] by the parties identified below. Parties The individuals whose full names and addresses are set out in the Schedule (each a Partner and, collectively, the Partners) [ Insert name of COFA ] of [ insert address ] (the COFA) BACKGROUND (A) The Partners carry on business as a legal practice authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) under the name of [ insert name of firm ] (the Firm). (B) The Partners have appointed [ insert name of COFA ] as the Firm’s compliance officer for finance and administration (COFA), subject to [ continued ] approval by the SRA. (C) The parties have agreed that the COFA shall have the benefit of an indemnity from the Partners in relation to certain liabilities of the COFA, as more fully set out in this deed. THIS DEED PROVIDES: COFA’s regulatory...

1.1 Failure to spot and handle conflicts, confidentiality and disclosure matters can seriously harm a law firm, such as: 1.1.1 Clients may not receive the standard of service they are entitled to, leading to complaints or negligence claims; 1.1.2 Our standing could be harmed; 1.1.3 The firm, or individuals within it, could be: (a) Subject to disciplinary action by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) or another regulator, potentially resulting in fines, disqualification or other penalties; (b) Faced with third-party court claims for injunctions preventing us from acting on a matter and/or for damages. 1.2 An own interest conflict arises where our obligation to act in any client’s best interests on a matter clashes with the personal or commercial interests of the firm or a member of staff on that or a related matter—or there is a significant risk of such a clash. We must never act where an own...