The SRA introduced outcomes-focused regulation (OFR) on 6 October 2011.
All recognised and licensed bodies must nominate a compliance officer for legal practice (COLP) and a compliance officer for finance and administration (COFA), who will start to fulfil their responsibilities from 1 January 2013.
COLPs will be responsible for taking all reasonable steps to ensure their firms' compliance with all of its regulatory objectives, except in relation to the SRA Accounts Rules which will be the responsibility of the COFA. These requirements are set out in the SRA Authorisation Rules.
Although COLPs and COFAs can be employees, as well as managers, they will need to be individuals with sufficient seniority within a firm to ensure that they have the authority to properly carry out the role. This includes having access to management systems and other relevant information such as client files and business information.
The SRA does not intend the existence of the COLP and COFA to remove ultimate responsibility for regulatory obligations from the principals in a firm. The SRA has highlighted that responsibility for compliance ultimately rests with the managers of a practice, however compliance officers may also find regulatory action is taken against them where they fail to meet their responsibilities.