“Empowering In-House Solicitors: Solicitors Regulation Authority Releases New Comprehensive Guidance” —

• “The Solicitors Regulation Authority has issued updated guidance for in-house solicitors, emphasizing professional obligations, legal privilege, reporting wrongdoing, and handling conflicts of interest. It includes practical advice on managing privilege complexities and balancing confidentiality with public interest duties.”
• “Conflicts of interest: in-house solicitors are subject to professional obligations to avoid conflicts of interest – for example, where a solicitor is asked to act for a parent and subsidiary, they will need to consider the risk of a conflict arising. They will need to consider if the parent and subsidiary have aligned interest? Will there be a lot of negotiation? Will the relationship change? Can the information relating to each of them be kept separate and confidential? If it looks like there could be an issue with any of these points, it may not be appropriate for the in-house solicitor to act for both parties.”
• “Personal advice: the guidance also touches on providing advice to colleagues on personal matters, emphasising boundaries and ensuring that there is no conflict of interest. The guidance acknowledges that it can be possible to provide personal advice. It encourages in-house solicitors to:
  • Check their employment terms and internal policies first to see whether they are allowed to advise colleagues.
  • Think through the professional obligations (e.g. confidentiality, conflict and privilege).It gives the example of how advising a colleague on an employment contract might place a solicitor in conflict with their employer.
  • Consider if there is any applicable professional indemnity insurance cover and whether that extends to advising colleagues on personal matters.”
• “The guidance acknowledges that an in-house solicitor’s core obligation is to act in the best interests of their client. However, it also flags that solicitors have wider public interest duties to uphold the rule of law, act with independence, honesty and integrity, and maintain public trust. These wider public interest duties will, where they conflict with the client’s interests, override the obligations to the client and the organisation. This means there can be circumstances where a solicitor is obliged to do something that is not in the best interests of their client.”
  “Updated guidance is provided on where a solicitor is involved in conducting internal investigations: This update provides practical guidance to solicitors where they are involved in conducting internal investigations to help understand and manage regulatory risks and issues. The guidance acknowledges that there is no one-size-fits-all but sets out practical guidance for conducting an investigation, including… Independence: ensure investigators are free from conflicts of interest and maintain confidentiality and independence.”

“OCC Issues Cease and Desist Order Against Bank of America for BSA Deficiencies” —

• “The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today issued a cease-and-desist order (order) against Bank of America, N.A. (bank) for deficiencies related to its Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and sanctions compliance programs.”
• “The OCC took this action based on violations and unsafe or unsound practices relating to these programs, including a failure to timely file suspicious activity reports and failure to correct a previously identified deficiency related to its Customer Due Diligence processes. The order also identifies deficiencies in the internal controls, governance, independent testing, and training components of the bank’s BSA compliance program.”
• “The order requires the bank to take comprehensive corrective actions to enhance its BSA/anti—money laundering (AML) and sanctions compliance programs, including the hiring of an independent consultant to assess the bank’s BSA/AML and sanctions compliance programs and conduct lookback reviews to ensure all suspicious activity was appropriately reported.”
• PDF: Cease and Desist Order

“Five charged by SFO over collapse of law firm Axiom Ince” —

• “The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) today charged five men, including two solicitors, with offences including fraud, forgery, and the destruction of documents, following the collapse of the law firm Axiom Ince and alleged improper use of over £60 million of client money. “
• “The firm’s CEO and director Pragnesh Modhwadia is charged alongside co-director Shyam Mistry and Chief Financial Officer Muhammad Ali with two counts of fraud by abuse of position. They are alleged to have misused client funds and exposed thousands of the firm’s clients to losses. “
• “Modhwadia and Mistry are also charged, alongside the firm’s Chief Technology Officer Rupesh Karawadra and Vice President of IT Jayesh Anjaria, with conspiring to conceal, destroy or dispose of documents relevant to a Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) investigation into the firm. All five are also charged with conspiring to mislead the SRA using false documents. “
• “Axiom Ince was closed by the SRA on 3 October 2023. At the time, the group had offices across the country, including in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, Liverpool, London and Manchester. “
• “The SFO’s investigation was opened 15 months ago and is one of its fastest to result in criminal charges. “