Conveyancers continue to bear the brunt of AML penalties, with the majority of the decisions published by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in the first half of this year referring to the high-risk nature of the work.
Penalties handed to firms carrying out conveyancing have ranged from £1,800 to over £32,000 since January, with fines that directly reference conveyancing matters totalling over half a million pounds.
Failures related to client matter risk assessments (CMRA) were the most common cause of sanctions, with around 80% of the firms in breach of AML regulations found to have missing, late or undocumented risk assessments. In some cases, CMRAs were not completed at all, in others they were completed retrospectively, or they had been completed but not documented.
Inadequate or out of date policies, controls and procedures (PCPs) were found in around 70% of the inspections published so far this year. Common issues included the use of generic templates not tailored to take into account the specific risks of the firm, or PCPs not being reviewed after they had been implemented.
Absent or non-compliant firm wide risk assessments (FWRAs) and weak source of funds checks and customer due diligence both present in around half of the firms inspected.
Some firms had no FWRAs, others had ‘copy and paste’ frameworks in place, and some had failed to link the risk to specific activities – particularly conveyancing. The SRA’s AML inspection team also found a lack of evidence of source of funds checks, weak ongoing monitoring and failure to identify high-risk matters.
The SRA has continued to crack down on historical offences, with four firms being penalised for breaches dating back to 2011. Martin Gaffney Solicitors in Leeds was fined £11,484 for CDD breaches between October 2011 and June 2017, along with further CDD discrepancies and failing to conduct adequate CMRAs between June 2017 and August 2025.
Ettinger and Vickers in Little Sutton, Cheshire received a £13,901 penalty for failing to establish and maintain appropriate and risk-sensitive policies and procedures P&Ps between November 2011 and June 2017, along with further breaches related to PCPs and CMRAs between June 2017 and May 2025.
Greater London firm Kirkwoods, in Stanmore, was also sanctioned for offences from 2011, with a fine of £3,476 for failing to establish and maintain appropriate P&Ps between October 2011 and June 2017. PCP and FWRA breaches were also found between June 2017 and February 2025.
And Jones Law Partnership in Stockport agreed to pay a financial penalty of £7,696 for breaching principles six and eight of the SRA Handbook between October 2011 and November 2019, and failing to achieve outcomes 7.2 and 7.5 of the SRA Code of Conduct.
The largest fine published this year was handed to Parnalls Solicitors in Launceston, Cornwall, who agreed to pay £32,106 for multiple breaches related to SoF, CMRAs and PCPs for an unspecified period.
Conduct was assessed as more serious, the SRA said, because a failure to have proper documentation in place at file level showed “a persistent disregard” of the firm’s regulatory obligations. The breach had occurred due to “recklessness and a failure to pay sufficient regard to money laundering regulations, published guidance and SRA warning notices.
Compliance was only achieved following the desk-based review and guidance provided by the SRA, but the regulator said it was “pleased to see the firm has confirmed it has put in place measures to ensure continuing and future compliance”.
All the firms receiving the maximum fine the SRA can impose without referring the matter to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal had a lack of adequate CMRAs in common.
BRR Law in Scunthorpe received the maximum £25,000 penalty for CMRA breaches on or before November 2019 and until December 2025, with Rooks Rider Solicitors in London also fined £25,000 for CMRA failings, along with non-compliant FWRAs, out-of-date PCPs and inadequate source of funds checks. The breaches occurred between 2017 and 2025.
HMG Law LLP in Bicester agreed to pay £25,000 for breaches related to CRMAs, PCPs and FWRAs between 2019 and 2025, while William Heath & Co and Skelly & Corsellis paid the same amount for failing to conduct adequate CMRAs and source of funds checks between June 2017 and November 2024.
The majority of the fines imposed by the SRA for breaches related to conveyancing so far this year were between £5,000 and £15,000.
One Response
Once again, decent, hard‑working conveyancers are carrying the weight of AML penalties, not because they are dishonest, but because they are trying to operate within a system whose red tape has become almost impossible to navigate.
At a time when the AML framework is one of the biggest factors slowing down homebuying, conscientious lawyers are being criticised for struggling with rules that have grown far beyond their original purpose. The profession isn’t failing; it’s being overwhelmed. And it should surprise no one that many principled conveyancers are choosing to step away. They came into the law to help people move home, not to shoulder an ever‑expanding burden of compliance that drains energy and morale.
If policymakers want faster homebuying, they must start by listening to the practitioners still holding it together before even more of them decide they’ve had enough.