SRA Update

SRA Update Issue 96 September 2021

General updates
Compliance updates

Welcome to the latest issue of SRA Update. Autumn marks the start of the legal year so it’s a busy time, not least because of the renewal of practising certificates. This year we consulted widely on our business planning, budget, practising certificate fees and compensation fund contributions, and the Legal Services Board has now approved reductions in both for the coming year. We are reminding you that there are four weeks left for you to have your say on our discussion paper on restricting fees in financial mis-selling cases, which could have a big impact on firms and clients alike. Looking ahead, we have a range of webinars coming up, including on anti-money laundering and the new Solicitors Qualifying Examination. Finally, I’m pleased to say that our SRA Innovate events are back on the road, with sessions in Cardiff and Liverpool in October.

Paul Philip

Chief Executive

Fee levels and Compensation Fund contributions fall

Individual practising fee levels for 2021/22 are to fall, down to £266, down £12 from last year. Compensation Fund contributions for the next practising year are also set to fall, from £50 last year to £40 this year and for firms holding client money from £950 to £760.

Join our discussion on regulation

Are you interested in how both the legal and wider sectors of society are regulated and respond to change, both now and in the future? Our free online Regulatory Futures 2021 event draws together leading experts from across all walks of life to answer your questions and discuss the big issues facing regulated industries at this time. Find out more and book your place at the event.

Questions on indemnity insurance renewal and cybercrime

A large proportion of firms will be renewing their insurance on 1 October. While the vast majority will have completed this process already, some of you might need some help securing a new policy. Because of queries about cybercrime, we have produced some questions and answers about this year’s renewals that might prove useful.

Have your say on fee restrictions for financial product or services mis-selling

We want your firm’s views on how we should implement our duty to restrict excessive fees in financial mis-selling cases. We want talk to as many of you as possible as we develop our approach. We wrote to your COLP at the start of July inviting them to share their views – speak to them if you think your firm should respond.

SQE now here – book your place

Our new Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), which will make sure every aspiring solicitor has reached the same required high standards, regardless of the route taken, is now in place and registration for the assessments is open.

SQE in Welsh pilot

We're looking for people to take part in pilot SQE2 assessment in Welsh this September. We need fluent Welsh speakers who are the type of candidates who will sit the SQE exams in the future.

What SQE candidate education and training data should be published?

Join our roundtable on 17 September to discuss what our proposed approach to publishing anonymised information about those taking the SQE may mean for law firms. The session is an opportunity to have your say and hear more about what data we could publish, how it might be used and when it will be available.

Sign up to our Innovate events

Our popular Innovate events, which look at issues such as the latest innovations in the legal sector, how consumers’ expectations are changing and how firms are adapting to technology are back. We will be holding two free events in October, focusing on practical innovation. The first is in Liverpool, the second in Cardiff. Find out more and reserve your place:

Cybercrime and ransomware

Cybercriminals are just as often trying to control the sensitive client information you hold as they are trying to steal client money. This can be through ransomware inserted into your IT systems. The National Cyber Security Centre has issued new information on how to avoid getting caught out by ransomware.

Webinar – Anti-money laundering guidance for trust and company service providers

We are holding a webinar on 22 September to give tailored advice on money laundering prevention for firms offering trust and company services. You can hear about which activities fall in scope of this category of work, and what your firm needs to do. We will also cover what areas of trust and company services are a high risk of being targeted by criminals, and how you can mitigate this risk.

Webinar – reporting money laundering concerns and suspicious activity

Our free webinar will help you understand when to and how to report money laundering concerns to us. We will be joined by the National Crime Agency (NCA) to talk about making suspicious activity reports (SARs). Join us on October 7 to gain further insight and guidance around common issues with SARs, as well as how to make sure your reports are as effective as possible.

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 News section of SRA Update. We have written to some of you recently with a reminder that you need to submit your firm’s diversity data. It’s a mandatory requirement so please make sure it’s completed as soon as possible. This issue also has some useful information on complying with your anti-money laundering obligations, which are a priority for us all. Finally, we’ve come back again to the whiplash reforms that came into effect at the start of June, answering some of your queries, including on cycling accidents.

Paul Philip

Chief Executive

Submit your mandatory diversity data

We recently wrote to compliance officers to remind you all that your firm needs to respond to our mandatory diversity data collection exercise. Returns for law firms should have been made by now. Requests were sent out to organisations’ contact at the start of July asking for this to be completed.

Whiplash reforms and cyclists

The Civil Liability Act 2018 (CLA) and the Whiplash Injury Regulations - more commonly known as the whiplash reforms – came into effect at the end of spring. They brought a number of changes that will affect how consumers make a PI whiplash claim. We have been asked how this affects accidents involving cyclists.

New rules on trust registrations

New rules which came into force in October 2020, require all UK express trusts to register with HMRC. This includes non-taxable trusts, unless the trust is specifically excluded. You might need to make clients aware of any duties they have with regards registration of trusts

Compliance Officer Conference – details coming soon

You should already have saved the date for this year’s Compliance Officer Conference, taking place at the International Conference Centre, Birmingham, on Tuesday 23 November. Booking information will soon be available and we are looking forward to meeting up again.

Carry out proper due diligence on partners in high-risk countries

Your firm has a responsibility to carry out enhanced due diligence on any business partner in a 'high-risk third' country. The Government has updated the list of countries this applies to. You can check your business partners against the list here.

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