The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to prosecute another City firm and two of its partners over the use of the client account. In a set of decision notices, the regulator today confirmed its decision to charge Teacher Stern LLP over alleged conduct going back at least eight years.

It is alleged that in 2013 and 2014, the firm allowed its sterling client account to be used to make 28 payments to 15 different beneficiaries which did not relate to the sale transaction in which it had been instructed and where there was no underlying legal transaction.

A further charge alleges that between May 2014 and August 2016, the firm allowed its euro client account to make transfers to 17 beneficiaries where there was no underlying legal transaction.

The SRA will also prosecute two experienced solicitors at Teacher Stern. Real estate partner Sacha Rifkin, admitted in 1998, is alleged to have caused or allowed money to be paid out from the firm’s sterling client account when there was no underlying transaction.

Claire Rollo, a solicitor for more than 30 years and partner in the corporate and commercial team, is alleged to have caused or allowed both sets of payments that are subject to the charges against her firm.

All allegations are subject to a hearing before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and are as yet unproven. The prosecution decisions were taken last December but were published only today. The reason for the delay is not known.

SRA prosecutions against firms are relatively rare – just six have been announced since the start of this year – but the regulator has also suffered notable and costly setbacks in some cases where it has pursued City practices.

Last month, London firm Candey Limited was cleared of all wrongdoing after being accused of breaching money laundering regulations. The SRA was left to pay its own costs after the SDT opted against making any costs order.

A prosecution of the world’s biggest firm, Dentons, culminated in a six-day hearing in March and the dismissal of all allegations. The SRA was again forced to cover its own costs, thought to be around £189,000.

Teacher Stern, based in Bedford Row, is a £14m turnover firm which posted a £4.5m pre-tax profit in the year to April 2023.