The Legal Services Board has run out of patience with it, opening a third front of enforcement action following the collapse of PM Law Group. Its own new COLP/COFA separation rules have landed to confusion rather than clarity, with a lobby group and a former SRA head of legal both saying the drafting doesn’t hold up. A Norwich firm became the third in eighteen months to be fined for the same politically exposed person failure, a reminder that recognising risk and acting on it are not the same thing. And, for the first time, the government has put an actual date on the point at which the SRA stops being law firms’ AML supervisor at all.
This month’s Compliance Lifeline covers all four: what’s changed, what’s still unresolved, and what each one means for your firm’s COLP, COFA and MLRO.
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None of these four stories are finished. The LSB has been clear it’s watching for outcomes, not just plans. The COLP/COFA drafting dispute will need a straighter answer from the SRA before firms can plan around it with confidence. PEP due diligence will keep catching firms out until recognising risk and acting on it become the same step. And 2028 is close enough to start preparing for, even if it’s still far enough away to get wrong. If you want a clearer read on where your firm stands against any of this, get in touch – our compliance audits and COLP/COFA support work exist to answer that question.