SRA Fine Law Firm a Record £20,000 for AML Failings

The SRA has increased their fining power

Last year the SRA increased its fining powers from £2,000 to £25,000 to enable them to impose larger fines on legal firms that fail to implement adequate Anti Money Laundering training and systems. Before this change any fines of over £2,000 would have to be investigated by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT).  The SRA believe that any cases with fines below £25,000 are usually straightforward and do not warrant the time of the SDT.

SRA Fine Law Firm a Record £20,000 for AML Failings

It has recently been announced that the SRA has fined a firm a record £20,000 for failing to have anti-money laundering training and systems in place. The announcement of this fine should trigger some firms into checking that their current AML policies are fit for purpose as this particular fine is 10 times more than SRA have been able to issue previously. Furthermore, the SRA issued this fine despite finding no evidence that the lack of AML training and systems harmed consumers or third parties. The firm in question had received warnings notices from the SRA about ensuring this AML issue was dealt with prior to issuing the fine.

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