For those solicitors who wonder whether they are the only ones putting in significant effort to comply with their AML obligations and whether anyone ever notices, the Law Society's annual report on AML supervision to HM Treasury should be welcome reading.
The Annual Supervisor's Report, published jointly by the Law Society and the SRA, concludes that there is strong evidence that the majority of solicitors take their compliance obligations very seriously.
During 2011, solicitors continued to access the wide range of support services offered by the Law Society on AML compliance. There are now more than 18,000 subscribers to the AML e-update and well over 2,000 solicitors engaged in Law Society training or networking sessions. The expansion of the Risk and Compliance Service offering on AML compliance is highlighted as a key development taking place during 2012.
The SRA's approach to risk assessment and enforcement relating to poor anti-money laundering processes is summarised in the report, with a clear focus on transparency, proportionality and fairness.
Unfortunately, during 2011 there were 19 of instances where the failure to comply with AML/CTF requirements were so significant, either in isolation or in concert with other breaches, that cases were referred to the Solicitor's Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT). As a result of those cases nine solicitors were struck off the roll or refused restoration to the roll, while two non-solicitor conveyancers were prevented from being employed by an SRA regulated practice. Other solicitors were suspended or received fines up to 10,000.
Read the full Law Society Supervisor's Report