July 2018 Managers Newsletter

Thank you to the many of you who attended one of our compliance roadshows. We have had very positive feedback and those of you who were at one of the events let us know you find them of value. We had useful discussions on a range of key issues and material in this newsletter follows on from some of that discussion.

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Fraud in conveyancing transactions and P&P and Dreamvar

The recent Court of Appeal judgment in the P&P and Dreamvar cases raised concerns about fraud in conveyancing transactions.

Things you may want to consider to help identify and prevent a fraudulent transaction from taking place include:

• You should carry out appropriate client due diligence (CDD) and Know Your Client (KYC) checks in accordance with the CLC Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Code and Guidance.
• Be aware of red flags and know what to do if you have any suspicions regarding your client, the other party or the transaction. We will be producing more information on red  flags very soon and in the meantime information on the flag-it-up campaign can be found here
• Ensure you have verified the other side’s conveyancer – check that they are legitimate and regulated by the CLC or the SRA by checking the appropriate registers.
• Make your client aware of the possibility of fraud and suggest they make their own enquiries of the property and the seller, for example by talking to the neighbours.
• Suggest to the client that they sign up to the HM Land Registry Property Alert Service. It is a free service that alerts the registered owner when certain activity occurs on the property.

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PII renewal

Could you spare three minutes to tell us a little about your firm’s experience of Professional Indemnity Insurance renewal this year? This helps us improve our service to you.

Complete the survey

Transparency consultation

Thank you to all those who responded to our consultation on the changes to our rules which aim to provide better transparency for consumers and foster innovation and competition in the legal services market whilst having minimal impact on the regulatory burden on the profession.

We will review the proposed rule changes in light of the responses we have received. We will publish the draft rules and guidance at the same time they are submitted to the Legal Services Board for approval in August. Practices will have several months to consider how to implement the rule changes before they come into effect in December 2018. We are planning to come out and discuss this with you through a series of roadshows in the Autumn.

In the meantime we continue to take all opportunities to present our thinking and will be at Liverpool Law Society on 7 November to talk about this and our wider agenda. We are also talking with other groups about similar opportunities.

GDPR

If you missed our webinar on GDPR you can view a recording of it here

Change of address

Please note that the Council for Licensed Conveyancers has now moved offices

Please amend your records and ensure that you notify the change to whoever submits your annual accounts.

Our address is now:

Council for Licensed Conveyancers,

WeWork,

131 Finsbury Pavement,

London EC2A 1NT

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Our switchboard number is now: 020 3859 0904

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