Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Compliance definition

What does Compliance mean? In legal practice, compliance describes the processes by which an organisation and its officers ensure adherence to applicable laws, regulatory requirements, licence conditions, professional rules, court orders and relevant industry codes. It is a descriptive expression rather than a single defined legal term, though specific regimes prescribe detailed obligations (for example, UK GDPR/Data Protection Act 2018 and, in Ireland, EU GDPR; anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules; and sectoral conduct requirements). Key features include identifying legal and regulatory obligations; implementing proportionate policies, controls and training; monitoring and record-keeping; regulatory notifications and reporting (including suspicious activity reports); and engagement with...

SRA compliance officers (COLP/COFA) in law firms: roles, selection and approval, systems and breach reporting, records, governance, wellbeing, succession, liability (England and Wales)

Published by a LexisNexis Practice Compliance expert

Practice notes

This Practice Note outlines the functions and duties of law firm compliance officers—namely the compliance officer for legal practice (COLP) and the compliance officer for finance and administration (COFA). It draws on the SRA Standards and Regulations, the SRA’s guidance on what is expected of COLPs and COFAs, and findings from the SRA’s thematic review of compliance officers. It also provides a high-level overview of regulatory duties around notifying the SRA of compliance breaches; for fuller advice on reporting failures, see: Breach reporting—law firms...

Requirement to have compliance officers

An authorised body must at all times have a designated COLP and a designated COFA, with those designations approved by the SRA. An authorised body is:

a recognised body (ie lawyer-owned firm)
an alternative business structure (ABS), or
a recognised sole practice regulated by the SRA.

Although primary legislation and the SRA Standards and Regulations use different titles for these compliance posts, the roles themselves are unaffected. Under the Legal Services Act 2007, ABS firms must appoint a Head of Legal Practice (HOLP) and Head of...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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