Q. I am employed by a non-solicitor organisation. Can I rely on the designated professional body regime (DPB) to avoid the need for authorisation?

A. A solicitor employed by a non-solicitor organisation is deemed, for the purposes of financial services regulation, to be performing the acts of his employer. The part XX exemption does not allow the Law Society to supervise and regulate these non-solicitor employers under the DPB regime.


This means, for example, that these employed solicitors cannot be registered on the exempt professional firms register for the purpose of insurance mediation


activities. It follows that the employer will need to consider its position if employed solicitors, or other employees, are carrying on regulated activities. This is because a firm may not carry on a regulated activity by way of business in the UK, unless it is authorised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), is an appointed representative, or has some other exemption.


For detailed information on whether authorisation is necessary, consider the FSA's guidance 'Do I need to be authorised?' at: www.fsa.gov.uk/Pages/Doing/Do/index.shtml.




Aide memoire


The FSA is conducting a survey of a random sample of law firms that carry on incidental financial services as part of the DPB regime supervised by the Law Survey. To understand what solicitors are being asked to complete, you can see further information by visiting the Law Society's Web site: www.lawsociety.org.uk/home.law.


Question of ethics is compiled by the Law Society's professional ethics guidance team. Send questions for publication to Austin O'Malley, the Law Society, Ipsley Court, Berrington Close, Redditch B98 0TD; DX 19114 Redditch