SRA Publishes Updated Sectoral Risk Assessment

The updated assessment highlights emerging and established risks facing the legal sector.

Key updates include:

➡️ High Money Laundering Risk: The legal sector continues to be assessed as presenting a high money laundering (ML) risk, with conveyancing, trust and company services, and misuse of client accounts remaining the highest-risk areas;

➡️ Emerging Risks: The assessment expands its focus on global instability and capital flight, updates technology risks to reflect the misuse of (AI), and introduces new risks relating to high street crime, passporting and company registration;

➡️ Established risks: Client account, politically exposed persons (PEP), and supply chain risks are integrated into established risks; and

➡️ Sanctions & Financial Crime: New sanctions risks relating to circumvention of Russian sanctions have been incorporated, while firms are reminded to understand source of funds and source of wealth as key controls across higher-risk matters.

✅ Legal firms should review and update their firm-wide risk assessments, ensure emerging (AML) and sanctions risks are reflected in risk controls, and reassess higher-risk services such as conveyancing, trust and company services, and client account activity.