SRA Update
SRA Update Issue 92 May 2021
Welcome to the latest issue of SRA Update. This month sees us consulting on our new Business Plan - it’s your opportunity to influence our work next year so please do take a look and get involved. Also in this issue, there’s still a chance to have your say on continuing competence through our online survey, and we urge those of you that might be affected by claims fee restrictions to register your interest with us as we consider next steps.
Paul Philip
Chief Executive
Have your say on our future plans by taking part in our 2021-22 Business Plan consultation. As well as outlining our planned areas of work for the year ahead, the plan also outlines how we intend to allocate our budget and the proposed Compensation Fund contributions and level of our part of the Practising Certificate fee.
If you have a mySRA account, please log in and check/update your diversity information by 31 May. It’s an important part of working towards a truly diverse profession. Some questions asked within this section have been recently updated, but reviewing your data is straightforward and should take no more than five minutes.
More than a year on from the introduction of our new Standards and Regulations, we are keen to find out from you how you have found working within the new rules; have they reduced burdens? What practical benefits or challenges have they brought? Have they helped you work differently? Please look out for the questionnaire later this month and let us know what you think.
We all have a part to play in keeping money launderers and the proceeds of crime out of legal services. To help with this, we have published additional support materials to accompany the Legal Service Affinity Group’s guidance on the latest money laundering regulations.
With cyber criminals posing an ever-increasing threat to law firms, we would like your feedback on the wording of a potential new clause within minimum terms and conditions for professional indemnity insurance. Our consultation runs until the end of May.
Restricting the fees that can be charged in relation to work on mis-sold financial products and services is a duty brought about by the Financial Guidance and Claims Act 2018. Following the recent publication of information by the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) in this area, we will be consulting on proposals to restrict fees within our sector. If you work in this area and want to have a say on any potential changes, please get in touch with us and register your interest.
We have extended the deadline by which we would like you to reply to our recent survey on continuing competence. You now have until Monday 31 May to tell us how you keep your knowledge and skills up to date and remain competent to practice. We’re also interested to find out what additional guidance and resources you would find helpful and what impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had on your continuing competence.
Read more about: Continuing competence survey – extended deadline
The Legal Ombudsman’s updated Best Practice Complaint Handling Guide will help you to improve your internal complaints process, prevent complaints going to them, or ensure your decisions are in line with any the ombudsman would recommend. The guide looks at some key steps in the process. Each step includes case studies and links to more detailed guidance and will help you to check and refresh your process.
Read more about: Updated complaint-handling guide from the Legal Ombudsman
As part of our consultation on our 2021-2022 Business Plan, we want to hear your views on the shared challenges and opportunities our sector is facing in the year ahead. Your input on this has a key role to play in helping us finalise our priorities and plans. This webinar will set out the topics we want your feedback on.
Read more about: Webinar – What should our priorities be in 2021-22?
Trainers and providers can find out our expectations when it comes to assessing those taking the new SQE, such as timings and exemptions, at our webinar on 17 May. We will be joined by experts from our SQE assessor Kaplan to answer any queries you might have.
Read more about: Webinar – Assessing the SQE, trainers and providers
A webinar on 17 May will discuss the details of how you can qualify as a solicitor through the SQE route when it’s introduced in September. Your training options, what you can expect and timings for assessments will all be laid out.
We’re holding a webinar on 24 May to look at how matters are assessed for anti-money laundering issues. This webinar explores the importance of risk assessments, and discusses the requirements of AML regulations, the ways in which assessments can help protect your practice, and relevant observations from our inspection of firms’ controls.
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 News section of the latest issue of SRA Update. This month sees us consulting on our new Business Plan - it’s your opportunity to influence our work next year so please do take a look and get involved. Also in this issue, there’s still a chance to have your say on continuing competence through our online survey, and we urge those of you that might be affected by claims fee restrictions to register your interest with us as we consider next steps.
Paul Philip
Chief Executive
Have your say on our future plans by taking part in our 2021-22 Business Plan consultation. As well as outlining our planned areas of work for the year ahead, the plan also outlines how we intend to allocate our budget and the proposed Compensation Fund contributions and level of our part of the Practising Certificate fee.
Your firm has a responsibility to carry out enhanced due diligence on any business partner in a high-risk third country. The list of countries this applies to used to be compiled by the EU, but since 1 January, the Government has published it. You can check your business partners against the list here.
Read more about: Carry out proper due diligence on partners in high-risk countries
The publication of the high-risk third countries list on the Government website is one of a number of changes that could affect the way you work now that we have officially left the EU. You can find out about some of these on our Brexit pages. We continue to update the pages as new information about how you might be affected comes to light.
Later this summer will once again see us asking you to provide data about your firm as part of our two-yearly firm diversity data collection. Ahead of this, and to help you prepare to collect the required information from your workforce, we have published a list of the questions we plan to ask.
Read more about: Prepare to collect your firm’s diversity data
Later this summer will once again see us asking you to provide data about your firm as part of our two-yearly firm diversity data collection. Ahead of this, and to help you prepare to collect the required information from your workforce, we have published a list of the questions we plan to ask.
We have had reports over the last year of scammers using emails designed to look like they have been sent by us. These emails are designed to illegally obtain money or sensitive information and might have contained a link that would have allowed malware to be installed on internal IT systems.
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