23 April 2026
Following a period of intense regulatory intervention by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), The Professional Alternative is urging all law firms to review their compliance culture.
They should also review their training provision before they find themselves subject to an SRA intervention.
Last month, The Professional Alternative highlighted the collapse of PM Law Group and the subsequent SRA intervention following a suspected fraud involving nearly £40 million in client funds.
Since then, the picture has grown more serious. The SRA has shut down three separate firms in a single week for similar financial compliance issues.
Among the most are Stalybridge firm Thompson & Cooke Ltd, Ipswich-based Ross Coates Solicitors and Uxbridge firm Danbar Solicitors.
Paul Fletcher, Managing Director at the Professional Alternative, said: “The SRA has made its intentions clear and has signalled it intends to become more intrusive in its oversight, with a move towards proactive supervision and data-driven risk monitoring.
“Firms operating in high-volume consumer areas, conveyancing, personal injury, and immigration, are under particular scrutiny, as are those that have grown quickly or changed their profile significantly in recent years, but all firms need to ensure that all aspects of their operations are ready for an SRA audit.”
Alongside formal interventions, the SRA has also issued a wave of AML fines against firms that have failed to maintain compliant policies, risk assessments and client due diligence procedures.
“Regulators are no longer waiting for potential harm to become reality before acting,” added Paul. “The reputation of the legal profession is at stake and they are making sure that firms act appropriately and have – and are able to demonstrate – that they have the right compliance training in place”
The “failure to prevent fraud” offence, introduced under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 and effective from September 2025, places a legal obligation on firms to demonstrate that reasonable preventative measures are in place.
Crucially, this obligation extends beyond management to every member of staff, at every level, who must understand the risks and know what to do when something does not look right.
“The firms that find themselves in the SRA’s crosshairs are rarely those where wrongdoing was universally known,” explained Paul.
“More often, it is firms where the warning signs existed, but no one felt empowered, or trained, to raise them.”
The Professional Alternative provides eLearning courses specifically designed to help legal professionals at all levels meet their obligations under the SRA Standards and Regulations and the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act.
“Our Fraud Prevention and Financial Crime Awareness suite includes modules on counter-terrorist financing, failure to prevent fraud and the practical application of AML obligations, which have all been developed and approved by legal professionals who understand precisely where the vulnerabilities lie.” Added Paul.
“With the SRA’s enforcement focus intensifying, the question for every firm is no longer whether compliance training is necessary. It is whether the training you already have is sufficient to stand up to scrutiny.”