SRA Update

Issue 85 - October 2020

General updates
Compliance updates

Welcome to the latest issue of SRA Update, which includes information on our Business Plan for 2020/2021. It covers our key workstreams - we are of course keeping our budget and planning under review as the implications of Covid-19 are better understood. One of the impacts has been on the insurance market, which was already hardening, and we have information on that too. And LegalEx – usually a thriving conference in London – will this year be a virtual event, where you can catch up with talks on our work.

Paul Philip

Chief Executive

Business plan shows how we will achieve aims

Find out details of our key priorities and the areas where we will be concentrating our resources in the year ahead, by reading our 2020-21 business plan. Drawn up after extensive consultation, it outlines our future work in areas such as the introduction of the SQE, anti-money laundering and supporting innovation, as well as responding to emerging issues such as Covid-19 and Brexit.

It’s renewal time, have you got everything under control?

The renewals window is currently open. If you are in charge of your organisation’s bulk renewal, or just taking care of your own PC, then make sure you have all you the information you will need to know at hand before you start by reading our guidance and advice.

Have you been unable to renew your professional indemnity insurance?

We know that for some it has been getting harder and harder to obtain professional indemnity insurance and many firms did not secure a renewal on 1 October 2020. You need to tell us if you have not yet secured cover so we can help you protect the interests of your clients. If you have not already notified us and the insurer that last provided you with cover, you should do so immediately.

What leaving the EU means for REL renewal

With the UK having left the EU, the registered European lawyer (REL) regime will come to an end on 31 December 2020. Unless they opt out, all RELs who renew their registration this October will automatically become registered foreign lawyers (RFLs) on 1 January 2021. Find out more about what this means for them and those who employ them.

Event – LegalEx, new date announced

As many of you know, we provide a programme of information for firms at the annual LegalEx conference, a two-day celebration of legal services. This year’s event will be held as a virtual event on 2 December. We will be supporting the event with talks on anti-money laundering, the Solicitors Qualifying Examination and the Accounts Rules, among others. Secure your place and keep tabs on confirmation here.

Round-up to help you tackle scams

Do you want to know about the high-risk scams that could affect your business? Our new round-up brings together the latest risks and advice on how to help keep your firm safe.

Your health, your career

Are you worried about your health affecting your work? Life as a solicitor can be challenging and the demands and pressures can easily build up. We can signpost you to sources of help and make adjustments for you if you are in difficulty.

Welcome to the compliance section of SRA Update. This year’s conference will take place as a virtual event at the end of November and we will have final details on our sessions and timings for you soon. We have also published information about adhering to our rules during lockdown and you can find out more about suspicious activity reports in the National Crime Agency’s magazine.

Paul Philip

Chief Executive

Compliance Officer Conference – save the date!

This autumn’s Compliance Officer Conference will take place in the week of November 23 and, because of current restrictions, will be a virtual event. We hope to finalise details in the coming weeks and will let you know the programme via our Events page, as well as social media, so you can book slots for the sessions that interest you.

Responding to SRA requests

As we all continue to adapt to the wider impact of the Covid-19 outbreak, we have issued a reminder regarding the need for you to make sure you still comply with any requests for information or deadlines we set.

Account to your clients for Stamp Duty

The Government introduced a Stamp Duty Land Tax “holiday” in the summer in a bid to kickstart the housing market. However, we have received concerns that some firms have not properly understood the holiday and have failed to account to their clients.

Read up on SARs

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has started publishing a new magazine that could help when it comes to filing a suspicious activity report (SAR). The latest issue of SARs in Action is available now on the NCA’s website.

Subscription

If you are regulated by the SRA

As a regulated individual, please simply ensure that the SRA has your current contact email address on record.

To ensure we have your current email address, log in to mySRA and check your profile.

No subscription request is required.

We recommend that you ask your network administrator to ensure that bulk email with "SRA Update" in the subject line is not filtered as spam.

If you do not wish to receive SRA Update, please unsubscribe.

If you are not regulated by the SRA

If you are not regulated by the SRA, please email a subscription request to SRAupdate@sra.org.uk.

Unsubscribe

To unsubscribe, please complete our unsubscribe form . We cannot process unsubscribe requests submitted by email.

Editorial comment

Please send editorial comment to SRAupdate@sra.org.uk.