Licensed conveyancers in England and Wales are being encouraged to transition away from maintaining client accounts, as discussed at a round-table hosted by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC). The discussion highlighted the risks and regulatory burdens of managing client accounts, including compliance, cybersecurity, and anti-money laundering efforts.
Contributors to the discussion from the payments industry pointed out the deceptive sense of control such accounts provide, and advocated for third-party managed accounts (TPMA) as a safer alternative. Slow adoption rates among solicitors’ firms suggests some reluctance to surrender the ability to manage client money, but in a separate intervention the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) had previously highlighted the potential for significant cost reductions that could be achieved by moving away from client accounts.