Solicitors fear the potential risks involved in taking on new roles as compliance officers within their firms, a legal consultancy has warned.

The 360 Legal Group says it found ‘serious concerns’ over regulatory changes requiring individuals to monitor their firm’s behaviour and report any wrongdoing - with heavy punishments for failure to comply.

Under the provisions of the Legal Services Act, each practice must nominate a compliance officer for legal practice (COLP) and a compliance officer for finance and administration (COFA) by the end of March. Nominees will then be subject to checks by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and their positions effective from October.

Viv Williams, 360’s chief executive, said: ‘There are serious concerns that some practices could get left behind by the changes or, worse still, fall foul of highly punitive new penalties and face massive fines - anything up to £250m for a practice and £50m for the individual concerned.

‘While it’s plain that the top level of fines is intended for the biggest players, solicitors need to address this issue quickly because the responsibility lies with them to prove they have a whole series of structural and organisational changes in place.’

Solicitors raised the issues at a roadshow on the new rules, jointly held with compliance services provider SIFA.

The SRA said firms must already be thinking about their COLP and COFA nominations, and should not automatically hand the positions to the most senior staff.