In its latest clampdown on failure to follow anti-money laundering regulations, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has made three sanctions announcements in three days.
On Tuesday last week, the regulator announced it had fined Howard Fitton Solicitors of Lymm in Warrington, Cheshire, £2,894. The firm had failed to comply with the MLRs 2017, in that it failed to maintain records of its risk assessment. It also failed to establish and maintain fully compliant policies, controls and procedures to mitigate and effectively manage the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing between June 2017 and May 2024.
The firm had co-operated fully with the SRA’s investigation, there was no evidence that the misconduct had caused harm and the firm took immediate steps to bring itself into compliance with the rules, the regulator said. The firm was also ordered to pay £600 in costs.
The following day, the SRA said it had reached a regulatory settlement agreement with Wolf Law Solicitors LTD of Birkenhead, Merseyside. The firm agreed to pay a fine of £5,215 and investgations costs of £1,350.
It made a number of admissions, including that it failed to nominate a money laundering reporting officer; failed to seek SRA approval for a beneficial owner, officer or manager and failed to conduct ongoing monitoring including, where necessary, the source of funds.
Finally, on Thursday, the regulator revealed a regulatory settlement agreement had been reached with Liverpool firm Bennett & Co, which agreed to pay a financial penalty of £3,305 and the £600 costs of the investigation.
The SRA said the firm failed to adequately assess, identify and document risk by conducting client and matter risk assessments on files until October 2024, meaning it failed to ensure that it was fully compliant with its statutory obligations for a period of over seven years since the MLRs 2017 came into effect.
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