The SRA carried out 177 law firm inspections and 73 desk-based reviews between April 2022 and April 2023.
One in three (30%) of firms inspected were fully compliant with their AML obligations, with just over half (51%) partially compliant.
But the SRA found 19% of firms to be non-compliant, resulting in corrective or enforcement action.
Alongside the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT), the SRA has:
- submitted 24 suspicious activity reports to the National Crime Agency relating to assets totalling more than £75 million
- levied fines totalling £137,402
- suspended one individual and placed controls on employment on another
Common compliance issues
Although most firms take their AML responsibilities seriously, the SRA criticised what it sees as a “tick-box” mentality in some firms.
The SRA warned about the use “off-the-shelf” AML polices not tailored to firms and suggested that it will take further action to counter this risk.
Common AML breaches included:
- lacking or inadequate AML policies and procedures
- non-compliance with firm-wide risk assessments
- failure to carry out robust client and/or matter risk assessments
- inadequate identification and…
