SRA chief executive Antony Townsend (pictured) used his speech at the conference to defend outcomes-focused regulation (OFR) and compliance officer requirements as proportionate for all sizes of firms.

OFR, a ‘single intelligent compliance regime’ applying to ‘all entities, from sole practitioners to huge multinational firms’ is proportionate because it is responsive to risk rather than one-size-fits-all, Townsend said. The regime was designed to give everyone the opportunity to ‘innovate and diversify’ so as to run their firms better and give an improved service.

‘OFR is a regime to be feared and respected,’ Townsend said. ‘I want criminals to fear us, and you to respect us.’ OFR was still being rolled out and he expected ‘frequent, continuing dialogue with firms while we all work towards a very new way of doing things’.

The appointment of compliance officers for legal practice and for finance and administration was ‘an incredibly important step towards cementing the idea that all firms should have good compliance systems in place’, Townsend said. He stressed that individuals appointed to these roles had to be sufficiently senior within the firm to be equal to the task. ‘They cannot be sacrificial lambs,’ he said. ‘You can’t just shuffle off responsibility for compliance.’

On the problems surrounding the online mySRA tool to renew practising certificates he said: ‘Sorry. Lessons have been learned and we are evidence gathering. We are committed to getting it right next time.’

Asked from the floor what the SRA was doing about ‘unregulated providers who tout legal advice’, he replied that regulatory systems, including the SRA, were not good at distinguishing between who could and could not provide certain services.

He said: ‘Only a vet can saw off a horse’s leg, for instance, but there is no rule stopping a non-doctor amputating a human limb. Similarly, non-solicitors cannot hold themselves out to be solicitors, but there is nothing stopping non-lawyers from giving legal advice.’