10 law Independent accountants' reports
still required for law firms Following a process of consultation, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has confirmed that law firms will still be required to commission independent accountants' reports within six months of the end of their financial reporting period, writes Tommy White, partner, Wilkins Kennedy
However, in a departure from the current position, only those reports that are qualified will now have to be filed with the SRA. Firms that receive 100 % of their fees from legal aid work will be exempt from needing to commission a report.
The consultation proposal originally put forward by the SRA was that the requirement for every firm that holds client money to have its client account procedures reviewed annually by an external accountant would be removed. This historic requirement was neither proportionate, nor targeted, and was required irrespective of whether the firm posed a high or low risk in respect of the misappropriation of client money. It was also proposed that this approach was unnecessarily costly to the large number of
business focus
Why RD? Individuality and culture, flexibility and methodology
Welcome to this, the first in a series of three articles by John Scurlock-Davies on Rowan Dartington: what it is and what it does
Many of you will know of us as a result of frequent national press coverage – Tim Cockerill, our investment director, makes regular contributions to The Times and Daily Mail, as well as industry press with lower circulation. But for those of you who don’t already know; we are a multi-award- winning stockbroker and wealth manager based in Bristol, with a branch network that stretches from Exeter, to London and, of course, Reading.
But what sets us apart from the rest of the competition?
At Rowan Dartington we embrace technology and see it as a transformational discipline – as such we are forward thinking and always looking at ways to
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innovate and increase efficiency to enhance the service we deliver, be that in portfolio performance or administrative terms. Our entrepreneurial approach has resulted in the conceptualisation, production and on-going development of our own unique portfolio management system and it is this that enables us to deliver our Defaqto five-star rated investment management to thousands of our clients. In addition, the management buyout in 2011 enabled staff to purchase equity in the company (an offer which was heavily oversubscribed) thereby aligning our objectives with those of our clients, and committing to the future of the firm.
Indeed, the recent acquisition of Acordias, the Isle of Man- based wealth platform, provides us with a global reach and is complemented by our on- going domestic expansion with new offices opened in Exeter, Nottingham and Reading so far in 2014, as well as numerous individual hires in existing locations.
John Scurlock-Davies heads up the newly opened office in Reading, and brings over 30 years’ experience in wealth management having previously worked at Coutts, Credit Suisse and UBS.
These separate factors combine to form a dynamic company with high-calibre, committed staff, backed up by solid infrastructure and ambitious yet realistic expansion plans.
Book an appointment with John Scurlock-Davies to discuss your requirements confidentially and learn about working together.
Details: John Scurlock-Davies 0118-4020929
firms that pose only a low risk to consumers of legal services.
The changes announced within the SRA’s programme of regulatory reform have been considered within the framework of opening the market to new businesses and services and reducing the burden and cost of regulation. Given the level of mergers and acquisition activity at the smaller/more local end of the legal sector in the UK, there is no doubt that this is an important objective.
The new SRA requirements will ensure that they will continue to remain informed of firms that have poor compliance with the accounts rules. This should also mean that the risk of negative press arising from legal practices with poor compliance will not affect more compliant firms
who strive to ensure their internal client money controls are as robust as possible.
As part of Wilkins Kennedy’s original response to the consultation, we suggested that the current format of the report should have been considered, perhaps reducing the focus from non-trivial breaches of the rules, whilst flagging financial issues which formed part of the SRA’s recent drive on financial stability in law firms.
However, we are pleased the SRA has decided to retain the requirement of an annual accountant's report as it will mean the more compliant firms will be unaffected and users of legal services can have a certain degree of comfort that the firm they have engaged is subject to external review.
However, we do have a certain degree of disappointment that the opportunity to reassess the report in its current format was missed, so we await the next consultation with bated breath.
Details: Tommy White 01784-435561
tommy.white@wilkinskennedy.com www.wilkinskennedy.com
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – NOVEMBER 2014
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