Regulatory, Compliance, AML

On the Regulatory, Compliance and AML front, we recommend reading the following:

1. The SRA recently reminded law firms to stay vigilant in the light of increased incidences of banking scams targeting law firms. Read their latest case study at http://sra.org.uk/sra/news/compliance-news-12-banking-scams.pageso you don't become a victim. These are people claiming to be calling from genuine banks  so it is important that all the employees in your office know about such occurences and that they be trained how to react to such calls.

2. The SRA also reported that it is midway in its anti money laundering campaign to help law firms to test the systems that they have in place to identify suspicious activity. They have visited around half of the 500 firms that were identified as "high risk". Of those, the SRA says, "that only around 20 will need a second visit." Read their AML round up here: http://sra.org.uk/sra/news/compliance-news-12-anti-money-laundering.page

3. BBC report, that the number of fake law firm websites is on the rise. Criminals and conmen are using information from genuine law firm websites and assuming the names of SRA registered lawyers to try and con unsuspecting members of the public and clients (more so in conveyancing cases). While a lot is being done to educate the public on how to check the identity of their conveyancing lawyers, the Law Society is about to launch a new portal where secure communication can take place between the parties. More can be read here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31730530