• March 29, 2024
 Another of the “Big Four” awarded an ABS licence

Another of the “Big Four” awarded an ABS licence

This month, KPMG has become the second of the “Big Four” accounting firms to be awarded with an alternative business structure (ABS) licence by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

The firm will be the first of the “Big Four” to operate a multi-disciplinary business system, with no intention of developing a standalone legal practice.

Simon Collins, the KPMG UK Chairman says the new licence will allow the business to enhance their legal service offering, stating, “The new regulatory regime, designed to open up the provision of professional services across the sector, allows us to extend our legal services provision where we have a proven and successful track record.”

Collins also claims the firm will work in a format unlike comparable business, commenting, “We are taking a focused approach: our key market differentiator is that we will only offer legal services which are fully integrated with other areas where we already provide advice.”

KPMG have employed non-practicing solicitors within their tax and pensions practice for many years. The growing team, which includes 4 partners, has previously provided legal advice primarily for tax litigation. However the service offering has now been enhanced to include corporate, commercial, immigration and employment matters.

The team are planning to expand into other areas and cover further legal sectors, should consumer demand deem it necessary.

Gary Harley is the partner responsible for the development of service offerings within KPMG under the ABS. He commented, “Our existing legal team is on track to generate almost £10m in revenues this year and our future ambitions are to build on the solid foundations of this proven strategy, developing our ‘bench strength and capability’ in further areas which are complementary to and integrated with our existing business.

“We are in recruitment mode: we have already hired a number of extremely highly regarded lawyers and we continue to attract exceptionally high quality candidates as we add to our team.”

SRA Executive Director, Richard Collins says, “The vehicle KPMG has created to deliver a range of professional services in a one-stop shop is exactly the kind of entity envisaged when the Legal Services Act was introduced.

“We believe ABSs of this type will benefit consumers by providing greater competition in the provision of legal services, greater opportunities to access holistic services, and potential reductions in cost by services being made available in one place.”

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