The Solicitors Regulation Authority has exercised its fining powers fully by issuing a financial penalty of £25,000 to a firm for AML breaches.

The regulator announced the fine – the maximum it can impose on a firm – against south east practice Harrison Thames Valley Solicitors (trading as Harrison’s Solicitors).

The firm, headquartered in Reading, failed to ensure it had relevant documents in place to prevent activities related to money laundering. Regulators flagged up a potential issue in October 2023 after a desk-based review and referred the matter for a formal investigation.

It was found that for six years the firm failed to have in place an appropriate risk assessment, and had failed to establish and maintain policies, controls and procedures to manage the risk of money laundering.

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The SRA said the fine was based on the breach of the rules lasting ‘longer than was reasonable’ and for the potential harm caused to the public interest.

Harrison’s cooperated fully with the investigation and took immediate remedial action, with compliant documents now in place. There was no evidence that actual harm had occurred. The firm was ordered to pay £1,350 costs.

The SRA has shown no sign of slowing its disciplinary activity in relation to breaches of money laundering breaches. It levied more than £600,000 against almost 50 firms last year, not including cases that went to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. This included six sanctions being announced in the space of three days in December. All fines are paid to the Treasury, not the SRA.