SRA Standards and Regulations

Compliance officers

If you are a COLP you must take all reasonable steps to: ensure compliance with the terms and conditions of your firm's authorisation; ensure compliance by your firm and its managers, employees or interest holders with the SRA's regulatory arrangements which apply to them; ensure that your firm's managers and interest holders and those they employ or contract with do not cause or substantially...

Complaints handling

You ensure that, as appropriate in the circumstances, you either establish and maintain, or participate in, a procedure for handling complaints in relation to the legal services you provide. You ensure that clients are informed in writing at the time of engagement about: their right to complain to you about your services and your charges; how a complaint can be made and to whom; and any right...

Service and competence

You only act for clients on instructions from the client, or from someone properly authorised to provide instructions on their behalf. If you have reason to suspect that the instructions do not represent your client's wishes, you do not act unless you have satisfied yourself that they do. However, in circumstances where you have legal authority to act notwithstanding that it is not possible to...

Conflict of interests

You do not act if there is an own interest conflict or a significant risk of such a conflict. You do not act in relation to a matter or a particular aspect of it if you have a conflict of interest or a significant risk of such a conflict in relation to that matter or aspect of it, unless: the clients have a substantially common interest in relation to the matter or the aspect of it, as...

Managers in SRA authorised firms

If you are a manager, you are responsible for compliance by your firm with this Code. This responsibility is joint and several if you share management responsibility with other managers of the firm.

Appropriation of payments

Where you are entitled to payments from the same client in respect of two or more regulated credit agreements, you must allow the client to put any payments made, in respect of those agreements, towards the satisfaction of the sum due under any one or more of the agreements in such proportions as the client thinks fit.

Consumer credit guidance

Where you undertake credit-related regulated financial services activities, you must have regard to any guidance issued by the SRA from time to time relating to such activities.

Records of transactions

Where you receive instructions from a client to effect a transaction, or make a decision to effect a transaction in your discretion, you must keep a record of: the name of the client; the terms of the instructions or decision; and in the case of instructions, the date on which they were received. Where you give instructions to another person to effect a transaction, you must keep a record of:...

General information to be provided

In good time before the conclusion of a contract of insurance, you must disclose the following information to clients: whether you provide a personal recommendation about the insurance products offered; the procedures allowing clients and other interested parties to register complaints about you and information about the out-of-court complaint and redress procedures available for the...

Cross-selling requirements where insurance is the ancillary product

When you offer a non-insurance ancillary product or service as part of a package or in the same agreement with an insurance product, you must: inform the client whether it is possible to buy the components separately and, if so must provide the client with an adequate description of: the different components; where applicable, any way in which the risk or insurance coverage resulting from the...