238,000 Suspected Mule Accounts Closed, and It Is Still Not Working In a recent update, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published findings of its latest multi-firm review on money mules. The initial figures seem impressive: regulated firms closed 238,000 suspected mule accounts in 2025, up from 184,935 in 2023 and…
Understanding Your Obligations – It Is Not Just About Regulatory Breaches Two recent actions by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), taken weeks apart, make the same point from very different angles. In the first case, a former law firm owner has been banned from financial services after misappropriating more than…
SRA Confirms Pause on COLP and COFA Separation Rules On 30 September, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) confirmed it is pausing implementation of the COLP and COFA separation rules, which were due to take effect from January 2027. The plans were attracting growing criticism for the regulator’s proposal to prevent…
Two Proposals Firms Need to Watch On 28 October 2026, Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey will deliver the Autumn budget, and with that date fast approaching, two proposals affecting law firms’ finances are in circulation, and both could have a material impact on how firms manage their income. The…
Gaining Vital Insights from Client Complaints We have previously written about the regulatory focus on complaints handling, first on the Legal Ombudsman’s proposed reforms and then on the SRA’s supplementary consultation on first-tier complaints. Both articles focused on what the rules are changing and the heightened scrutiny on the way.…
What Law Firms Need to Know About ICO Governance Changes On 30 September 2026, the Information Commissioner’s Office will formally become the Information Commission. The change is made under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 and marks a shift from the current model, in which statutory powers rest…
What Was the Recent Ruling Against the SRA? On 21 September 2026, the High Court handed down judgment in Carter-Ruck Solicitors & another v Solicitors Regulation Authority,. Mr Justice Butcher ruled that the SRA cannot use section 44B of the Solicitors Act 1974 to compel solicitors to produce documents or…
Latest from RACO: What We’ve Published This Month It has been a busy few weeks for regulatory developments, and we have been covering them as they land on our news and insights page. Here is a summary of the most recent articles, each with a link to read the articles…
What Has Happened Since Our Last Article When we published our practical guidance on the COLP and COFA changes in early September, the Legal Services Board (LSB) had just approved the new COLP and COFA changes and the SRA was preparing for phased implementation from January 2027. More recently, opposition…
Some of the most recent enforcement decisions published by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) are worth taking notice of. Two came out of anti-money laundering desk-based reviews, and another followed a forensic investigation into a sole practitioner. The financial penalties range in severity from a few thousand to over twenty…