News
Latest on risk management, professional indemnity and compliance issues.
Filter:
- Anti-Money Laundering
- Compliance Issues
- Conflicts
- Data Protection
- Latest News
- Miscellaneous
- Professional Indemnity
- Regulation
- Uncategorized
-
August 2, 2021
State of Qatar v Banque Havilland SA & Others [2021] EWHC 2172 (Comm)
A claim to litigation privilege in relation to a report by accountants because the documents and evidence provide little support for contemplated adversarial proceedings being the sole or dominant purpose of their instruction. Of note, too, was the Deputy Judge’s observation that he ‘would have needed a good dealing of persuading that the circumstances in which the document was provided to the regulators meant that privilege in the report had been waived generally’.
See here.
-
August 2, 2021
oneNDA – open source non-disclosure agreement template produced with the support of several leading law firms
See here.
-
July 23, 2021
Harcus Sinclair LLP and another v Your Lawyers Ltd [2021] UKSC 32
This is an important Supreme Court decision on solicitors’ undertakings with significant implications for the profession. A non-compete undertaking given on behalf of a firm was not given in their ‘capacity as a solicitor’ as it was not part of their ordinary professional practice but instead related to a potential business opportunity.
The most significant part of the judgment is obiter but the Supreme Court held that the non-compete clause would not have been enforceable against the firm as a solicitor’s undertaking because the firm, as an LLP, is not an officer of the court. It would also not have been enforceable against the member who gave it as he gave it on behalf of the firm. This may have significant implications for daily practice particularly conveyancing.
As the Supreme Court identified, ‘[there] can be no doubt that the underpinning of those undertakings by the availability of rapid summary enforcement under the court’s supervisory jurisdiction has been a significant buttress for their reliability, and for the propriety of accepting them as part of the every-day machinery for modern conveyancing. This is not because there is a history of frequent non-compliance followed by court enforcement. Rather, the mere existence of that ready and swift means of enforcement made it inherently unlikely that a solicitor would fail to comply.’
Two thirds of solicitors’ practices are incorporated as LLPs or limited companies.
See here.
-
July 23, 2021
Barrowfen Properties Ltd v Patel & Others [2021] EWHC 2055 (Ch)
Solicitors’ breach of the “no inhibition” principle and allowing themselves to be inhibited by their loyalty to one of their clients did not, on the facts, lead to finding of breach of fiduciary duty but did lead to a finding of negligence.
See here.
-
July 23, 2021
Consultation on Amendments to the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017
See here.
-
July 22, 2021
Tripipatkul v WH Lawrence Ltd (t/a WH Lawrence Solicitors) [2021] EWHC B13 (Costs)
Decision setting aside a contentious business agreement, on the basis that its terms were unreasonable, under section 61 of the Solicitors Act 1974, a provision on which there is little authority.
See here.
-
July 14, 2021
Law Society Practice Note: Solicitors offering legal services to the public from unregulated entities
See here.
(Law Society members only)
-
July 14, 2021
The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) (No. 2) (High-Risk Countries) Regulations 2021
These regulations remove Ghana from, and add Haiti, Malta, Philippines and South Sudan to, the list of high risk countries for the purposes of enhanced customer due diligence requirements in regulation 33(3) of The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017.
See here.
-
July 12, 2021
FATF report: Money Laundering from Environmental Crime
See here.
-
July 9, 2021
Home office circular: money laundering: the confidentiality and sensitivity of suspicious activity reports (SARs) in the context of disclosure in private civil litigation
Note that this also addresses data subject access requests under UK GDPR.
See here.
