The New Economic Crime Regulatory Objective – an update 

14 August, 2024

On 26 June 2024, the Legal Services Board (‘LSB’) held a roundtable to discuss legal services regulation as it relates to the new economic crime Regulatory Objective and proposed new guidance on the implementation of Economic Crime Regulatory Objective which the LSB is proposing to publish.   

The new Regulatory Objective, ‘promoting the prevention and detection of economic crime’, was introduced by The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (’the 2023 Act’).  Economic crime includes committing, conspiring or attempting to commit, aiding, abetting or procuring the commission of the offences which are set out in Schedule 11 of The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act.   

You can read a summary of the discussions that took place at the roundtable here.  One of the key points emerging from the roundtable was a recognition that economic crime extends beyond what we commonly think of i.e. anti-money laundering, and the expectation that there should be a step-change in how regulation is used to address the broad spectrum of activities that fall within the definition of economic crime set out in the 2023 Act.  

The CLC has set clear requirements and publishes extensive guidance which aims to mitigate the risks around anti-money laundering, fraud and other economic crime, but consistent with LSB expectations, are considering what further steps we can take to comply with the new Regulatory Objective.  We will continue to keep you updated as the LSB progresses with the proposed new guidance.