A Regular Bunch Of …

Edward Fennell reflects on recent developments at the SRA, including plans to raise funding and the announcement that it is going to have to pay 65% of Dentons’ costs incurred in the High Court and Court of Appeal proceedings in the AML case which linked to allegations of money laundering.

He notes that responding to the latest development, Colin Passmore, Chairman and Patrick McCann, CEO of the City of London Law Society commented,

“We recognise that the SRA faces real and growing pressures, and we are supportive of Sarah Rapson’s efforts to refocus the regulator and put its operations on a stronger footing since taking over as CEO. Reform is overdue and her diagnosis of the challenges is, in many respects, the right one. That said, an increase in fees of this scale – 29% in a single year, with further rises signalled beyond 2026/27 – sets a high bar. The profession is being asked to fund the cost of fixing problems it did not create.”