Bereavement Standard campaign picks up momentum
The Bereavement Standard campaign is gathering momentum as campaigners complain at the lack of cross-department cohesion over bereavement issues facing thousands of families. An MP has called for greater leadership and cohesion across government to improve treatment of grieving families. The demands came during a debate in the Commons on the campaign for a cross-industry […]
New LSB rules on regulators’ fees will increase transparency for lawyers
The Legal Services Board (LSB) has published new Rules and Guidance to increase transparency on how legal services regulators spend practising certificate fees (PCF). Increased transparency will help empower those who pay the PCF to hold their regulator accountable for its expenditure. The proposals are designed to lead to a more meaningful debate on the […]
New AML Guidance needs a careful review
With the release of draft guidance on anti-money laundering guidance on 20 January 2021, there has been a furry of conversation about what this means. Amy Bell from Teal Compliance, has shared her recent blog with the readers of Today’s Wills and Probate to share her thoughts on the new draft guidance. Since 2017 LSAG […]
Legal sector helped with new AML guidance
The Legal Sector Affinity Group (LSAG), which includes all UK legal sector professional bodies and supervisors, has completed an extensive revision and redraft of its anti-money laundering (AML) guidance. This replaces previous versions of the guidance and is currently pending approval by HM Treasury, although the guidance is currently available in draft form. This draft […]
MOJ reports 17 serious data breaches
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has exposed a colossal amount of sensitive public data over a period of 12 months, according to data found in MoJ’s annual report for 2019/20. Hundreds of thousands of sensitive files have been leaked by MoJ, mostly due to human error, in the past year. Reports sent to the Information […]
Money laundering fines reach record high
HMRC has issued a record £23.8m worth of fines for organisations breaching and or ignoring money laundering regulations. Nick Sharp, Deputy Director of Economic Crime, Fraud Investigation Service at HMRC said: “Businesses who fail to comply with the money laundering regulations leave themselves, and the UK economy, open to attacks by criminals. “Money laundering is not […]
Updated guidance on making and registering an LPA during the coronavirus outbreak
Following on from the implementation of the national lockdown, the guidance on making and registering LPAs during the pandemic has been updated. More information can be found here.
LSB pushes legal regulators to drive up performance and improve governance
The Legal Services Board (LSB) has published annual reports on the performance of the eight legal services regulatory bodies. Each organisation regulates different types of lawyers and carries out its responsibilities in different ways. Nevertheless, they have the same responsibilities under the Legal Services Act 2007 (the Act) and are assessed against the same 27 […]
Will Brexit affect the Wills and Probate Industry ?
At this stage its difficult to know exactly how to stay compliant in light of Brexit as we don’t know what changes there will be in legislation. However, the main legislation governing wills is the Wills Act 1837 which given its age it clearly was not implemented under an EU directive and is not therefore […]
CMA praises advancements in legal sector, but more can be done
Today, 17 December, the Competition Markets Authority (CMA) has published the findings of its review of the legal services in England and Wales. The review has found that the legal profession has made some positive advancements with regards to transparency but more work can be done to continue to improve and more work on the […]
LSB invites contributions to a new strategy for the legal service sector
The Legal Services Board (LSB) has today launched a consultation on a draft strategy for the legal services sector and is inviting others to say how they will also contribute to reshaping legal services to better meet the needs of society. The strategy follows the publication of LSB’s State of Legal Services 2020 report last […]
Legal Eye Launches Risk and Compliance Hub
Risk and compliance consultancy Legal Eye is launching an online resource centre for law firms. The hub provides a comprehensive bank of resources to help COLPs, COFAs, partners, directors and managers to manage risk. It includes precedent policy and procedure documents and templates, access to online training on a range of risk and compliance topics, […]
IHT Share Loss Relief is a wealth-saver in volatile stock markets
As the World celebrated the arrival of a Covid-19 vaccine this week the global stock markets boomed on the positive news. The FTSE 100 had its best day since March, a top ten ‘single-day’ gain, adding around £82bn to the value of companies in the index. But big gains haven’t been the stock market story […]
Law Society issues guidance to solicitors advising on tax
Our ‘Technical Corner’ brings you information that will help you to continue to grow and develop in your career. This month’s technical corner article comes from Emily Deane TEP, STEP Technical Counsel. If you have any questions for our panel of experts, please submit them using the contact form below. We will publish the questions […]
Unregulated providers could see new SRA schemes
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is considering whether to offer a number of schemes to help those in unregulated legal services, as part of a submission to the Competition and Market Authourity. The SRA has revealed it could offer “activity-based licenses”, enabling lawyers to provide individual reserved legal activities. The SRA said: “We have found […]
What does leaving the EU mean for businesses?
As the coronavirus pandemic takes centre stage, the Brexit transition is still rumbling on behind the scenes. But with the deadline nearing, it is worth taking into account what the changes can mean to businesses and firms. The GOV.uk website has lots of helpful information that can help you to prepare for the transition and […]
SRA Extends Pracitising Certificate renewals
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has revealed that they have extended the renewal window for the Practising Certifiate until 20 November 2020. A statement on the SRA website revealed: “We have decided to extend the practising certificate renewal window until 20 November. “This year we are running renewals on a new IT system and with […]
Will remote witnessing of Wills lead to more disputes?
Will Remote Witnessing of Wills Increase Will Disputes? We’ve seen a huge influx in the number of people wanting to make a Will during the Coronavirus pandemic, but many have been finding it tricky to do so. For a Will to be legally valid in England and Wales, it must be signed in the presence […]
Price transparency review reveals solicitors are more affordable
A one-year review of Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) transparency reforms indicates encouraging trends as research found most consumers now believe that solicitors are not as expensive as they originally thought. The regulator surveyed 3,539 recent users of legal services and found that only 10% of consumers, who now have access to information on price, believe […]
OLC appoint new Chief Ombudsman and Chief Operating Officer
The Office for Legal Complaints is pleased to announce the appointments of Paul McFadden as Chief Ombudsman and Sandra Strinati as Chief Operating Officer of the Legal Ombudsman. Elisabeth Davies, Chair of OLC, said: “Paul and Sandra are joining the Legal Ombudsman at a critically important time, for staff and customers, and for recovering and […]
