SRA & AML Compliance Support for Law Firms
​Our founder Andy Donovan is a non-practising solicitor with seven years at the SRA, including managing the General Counsel team, and more than a decade of hands-on compliance work with law firms of every size and structure.
We believe in using our depth of expertise to find pragmatic and commercial solutions to regulatory problems. We can assist with ad hoc support, complex regulatory problems, project-based work, regulatory investigations and ongoing input for queries or as a 'Fractional Compliance Director.'​
Compliance advice, queries and projects
Compliance questions do not always fit neatly into a training session or a policy document. We provide ad hoc advice on SRA and AML matters as they arise - the kind of question that needs a considered answer rather than a signpost to a guidance note.
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Where the challenge is more substantial, we work with firms on focused projects: reviewing and strengthening client onboarding procedures, addressing gaps in conflicts of interest management, rebuilding an AML compliance framework, or working through the action points arising from an SRA visit or compliance plan.
Retained Compliance Support
Some firms benefit from having experienced compliance support available on an ongoing basis rather than commissioning individual pieces of work. We offer retained support for ad hoc queries and fractional compliance director arrangements for firms that need senior regulatory strategic input without committing to a full-time hire.
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The shape of the arrangement depends on the firm. It might mean providing strategic input to the Board, overseeing an overhaul of a compliance function, being available as issues arise, or working alongside an existing COLP or MLRO to provide experience and perspective where it is needed most.
New Law Firm Office Manuals and AML Procedures
Compliance documentation that is long, unwieldy and unreadable tends to create as many problems as it solves when the SRA looks closely. We see as many problems from firms going over the top in their procedures as we do not doing enough - both are problematic.
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We review and redraft compliance policies and procedures across the areas that matter most: AML policies and firm-wide risk assessments, conflicts of interest frameworks, client care and complaints handling, accounts rules compliance and supervision arrangements. The goal is documentation that allows the business to thrive and that staff will recognise as relevant to their work.
Support with SRA Investigations
Regulatory contact from the SRA - whether an AML inspection, a forensic investigation visit or an unexpected request for information - requires a measured and well-prepared response.
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We support firms at every stage: reviewing the firm's position before any visit takes place, identifying the issues most likely to be raised and working through a practical response. Where a matter has already escalated, we can assist with managing communications, preparing submissions and working through the steps that are most likely to bring the matter to a satisfactory conclusion. Experience of working within the SRA shapes how we approach all of this and the advice we give as a result.