News
SRA cleared to license ABS
23 December 2011
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has cleared the final hurdle to become a licensed regulator for alternative business structures (ABS) today.
The Order designating the SRA as a licensing authority for ABS has now come into force as there were no matters raised by Parliament during the last three weeks. The SRA has set the date of Tuesday, 3 January—the first working day after the New Year—as the date on which it will start accepting applications.
Chief Executive Antony Townsend said: "We welcome the news that we have become an ABS licensing authority, this is a milestone that we have been working towards for nearly two years. It means the public can have confidence that ABS providing reserved legal activities will be regulated according to the same rigorous professional standards as traditional law firms."
Depending on the complexity of the first applications received, the SRA expects to announce the first successful applicants in the early part of 2012.
An online application form is available from 3 January at www.sra.org.uk/abs. You can email the ABS team at abscontact@sra.org.uk or call them on 01527 519107.