Waiting for your Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) Accreditation? Further to a Today’s Conveyancer Freedom of Information (FOI) Request to the Law Society, we can report that, due to numerous improvements made by the body to the CQS scheme over the last few months, the total average time for processing both new and re-accreditation applications has […]
Robert Bourns, president of the Law Society called on Brexit as a reason not to rock the regulation boat. He said: “During a period of unprecedented change for Britain following the vote to leave the European Union we must maintain confidence in all our markets and in particular the legal market. Uncertainty should be reduced, not […]
Paul Philip, chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority urged the need to reform “at pace”, saying regulation had to be in the public interest. “Around two thirds of the public think that professional legal services are simply too expensive, and small businesses agree. “And fewer than one in ten people experiencing legal problems instruct […]
Legal Services Board Chairman, Sir Michael Pitt, said: “The paper we are publishing today sets out the LSB’s vision for a future regulatory framework for legal services in England and Wales. We believe that further legislative reform would help address current challenges and make the step change needed to improve outcomes for consumers, citizens and […]
The SRA consultation on new separate codes of conduct for solicitors and firms, which will give more freedom for solicitors to deliver legal services outside regulated firms, and a separate consultation aimed at simplifying the accounts rules will both close on 21 September. ‘The changes proposed by the SRA have huge implications for the solicitor profession […]
Law Society urges profession to give views on ‘dramatic’ change The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s proposed reforms to the SRA handbook and accounts rules risk ‘weakening client protection’ and ‘damaging the reputation of the solicitor profession both at home and abroad’, the Law Society has warned. The Society has urged solicitors to give feedback on the […]
Responding to the interim report from the Competition and Markets Authority legal services study, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) said: “Those who represent a party cannot also regulate it. Measures that regulators could take to open up the market to competition are resisted by their representative arms, who naturally seek to protect the interests of their members.” […]
Conveyancing transactions rose by a healthy 24 per cent in the second quarter of this year, according to a report from Search Acumen, which monitors the sector. Researchers attributed the rise to reforms to stamp duty and land tax. From the beginning of April, the government levied a stamp duty surcharge on second homes, a […]
Ministers’ ‘back door’ amendments penalise buy-to-let investors Ministers have sneaked amendments to proposed legislation on buy-to-let properties through the back door, lawyers’ leaders complained yesterday. They claim that the move will create uncertainty as investors will be forced to pay income tax rather than a capital gains tax on investment properties. Law Society chiefs said […]
Currently, the SRA has the power to fine firms and individuals up to a maximum of £2,000, with any regulatory breach that requires a higher penalty sent to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. The limit on fines for ABSs is currently £50m for individuals and £250m for firms. A decision published on the SRA’s website states […]