Version 19 of the Handbook was published on 1 October 2017. For more information, please click "History" above.
This Part governs the SRA's determination of applications for:
approval of an authorised body's managers and owners pursuant to Rule 8.6(a); and
approval of an authorised body's compliance officers, pursuant to Rule 8.5(b) and (d).
The SRA will deem a person to be approved as suitable to be a manager or owner of an authorised body under this Part if:
that person is:
a solicitor who holds a current practising certificate;
an authorised body;
an REL; or
an RFL;
there is no condition on the person's practising certificate, registration or authorisation as appropriate, preventing or restricting them from being a manager, owner or interest holder of an authorised body or being a sole practitioner;
the SRA is notified on the prescribed form in advance of the person becoming a manager or owner of the authorised body; and
the SRA has not previously withdrawn its approval of that person to be a manager or owner under Rule 17.
The SRA will deem a person to be approved as suitable to be a compliance officer of an authorised body under this Part if:
that person is an individual who is a sole practitioner or a lawyer who is a manager of the authorised body;
the authorised body has an annual turnover of no more than £600,000;
the SRA is notified of the appointment of the person as a compliance officer on the prescribed form, correctly completed, in advance of the appointment commencing;
that person is not subject to a regulatory investigation or finding, including a discipline investigation of which they have received notice, a disciplinary decision or a SRA finding, or an application to or a finding of the Tribunal, or any equivalent investigation or finding of another regulatory body;
notwithstanding the generality of sub paragraph (d), the SRA has not previously refused or withdrawn its approval of that person to be a compliance officer under rule 17; and
the person is not a compliance officer of any other authorised body.