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Britain’s SRA formally censured for failings

Britain’s Solicitors Regulation Authority has been formally censured for its handling of the collapse of Sheffield-based SSB Law which went into administration owing £200 million.

The SRA received more than 100 reports raising concerns about the Sheffield firm between January 2019 and March 2024, but repeatedly failed to respond adequately.

Necessary

The Legal Services Board said the censure was necessary to reflect the seriousness of the failings identified in an independent report published last year, as well as the profound detriment suffered by consumers, the England-and-Wales Gazette reports.

In 2018, the England-and-Wales Law Society was sanctioned for its non-compliance with the rules on separation with the SRA.

The solicitors' regulator has already accepted its failings on SSB Law and has outlined plans for performance targets to indicate whether it has improved its monitoring of firms that may present a risk.