Blog

AML alert – Source of funds and savings

27 May, 2025

We have noticed that where a client has informed a practice that they have saved funds for a property purchase over a period of time, some practices are in our view not going far enough to establish the source of funds and are instead only establishing “proof of funds” (which is essentially that the money [Read more]

AML Alert – Artificial Intelligence being used to bypass CDD checks

27 May, 2025

As ever, criminals intent on laundering money will use whatever means available to them avoid detection, including Artificial Intelligence (AI).  As AI becomes more sophisticated and those with criminal intent become more adept at deploying it, there is an increasing trend in its use to bypass Client Due Diligence Checks (CDD).  The Legal Services Advisory [Read more]

Demystifying Material Information

20 May, 2025

On 20th May, Stephen Ward of the CLC and Sally Holdway of Teal Legal and HOP looked at Material Information in home buying and selling, the origins and drivers of the idea, recent developments in light of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act 2024 and passing of enforcement from National Trading Standards to the [Read more]

Professional Conduct in Relation to Tax (PCRT) code

24 April, 2025

Earlier this month the CLC took part in a consultation event hosted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) looking at changes to the principles and standards for tax planning set out in the PCRT code in the accountancy sector. Whilst CLC lawyers are not authorised to provide tax advice and [Read more]

Why move to a specialist regulator?

8 April, 2025

Switching regulators is something many firms consider but often shy away from. It can be perceived as being difficult and lengthy and firms worry about continuation of service for their clients and from their insurer. One firm who has made the switch, eight years ago as a trailblazer, is Nottinghamshire’s Fidler & Pepper. We spoke [Read more]

CLC holds first consumer issues round table

3 March, 2025

A key tenet of the Legal Services Act 2007 – as reflected in one of the core regulatory principles – is that the legal market operates in the interests of consumers. This may appear obvious but at times there have been justified complaints that it may seem to operate more in favour of lawyers in [Read more]

Reviewing the risks posed by client money management practices for the conveyancing industry

9 October, 2024

Shieldpay and the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) recently hosted a roundtable discussion to examine the risks involved in client money management practices within the conveyancing industry. The event brought together experts from conveyancing law firms and regulatory bodies to join CLC’s Director of Strategy and External Relations, Stephen Ward.  Also in attendance was Shieldpay’s [Read more]

First-Tier Complaints and Legal Ombudsman Levy Review

11 September, 2024

In May this year, the Legal Services Board (LSB) published its First-tier Complaints Policy,  emphasising that users of legal services and the public should have confidence in accessing high-quality legal services and a mechanism for resolving their concerns effectively.   If issues are not resolved at the first-tier level, users should have access to the Legal [Read more]

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers’ Industry Roundtable 2024

24 July, 2024

In a market where there is never any shortage of talking points, upfront and material information was the dominant theme of the Council for Licensed Conveyancers’ annual roundtable. It followed National Trading Standards implementing in full the rules on the information sellers need to provide when they put their property on the market. Sally Holdway, [Read more]

Client Account Fraud Alert

10 June, 2024

We have recently been informed of a CLC practice that has been the subject of an incredibly sophisticated fraud on their client account resulting in loss of a significant sum.  The fraud was committed over the telephone.  Fraudsters purporting to be from the practice’s bank called leaving a number and asked the practice to return [Read more]

Potential Fraud using CLC name

28 May, 2024

A CLC-regulated practice has forwarded an email they have received inviting them to ‘Subscribe to CLC’. There is a screengrab of the email’s contents below. It would appear that a third party’s email has been compromised and that the message has been sent via their email system. Beware of any similar emails that you might [Read more]

Get ready for important changes to payments systems that will help tackle fraud 

23 April, 2024

The UK payments industry is moving to ISO 20022, the global standard for payments messaging (the data that attaches to financial transactions enabling interoperability between banks, financial institutions, and clients).   ISO 20022 and legislative changes planned for this year will see the implementation of several new and much needed security and anti-fraud measures in the [Read more]

Chair’s Report of the 1 February 2024 Council Meeting

9 March, 2024

Before I comment on the first formal Council meeting of 2024, I want to report briefly on the conference we held on the morning of the same day during which we launched our Annual Report on 2023. The conference included an opportunity for those attending the conference, CLC lawyers, their suppliers and other stakeholders, to [Read more]

New to post-completion?

7 February, 2024

Get ahead with top tips for clear, correct and complete applications By Andrew Robertson, Head of Customer Policy and Service Improvement Ten short videos show how to avoid more than 20 of the most common requisitions HM Land Registry (HMLR) has launched Caseworkers’ Top 10 tips for tip-top applications – quick checks or changes conveyancing [Read more]

Conveyancing Roundtable 2023

28 November, 2023

Conveyancers are shouldering an ever-increasing weight of responsibilities but remain hesitant about increasing their fees, the annual market roundtable hosted by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has heard. Participants – drawn from across the conveyancing world – also discussed how understanding where data comes from is critical to the push for upfront information as [Read more]

Chair’s Report of October 2023 Council Meeting

31 October, 2023

The Council met in informal, workshop mode in October to start the process of planning for 2024 and beyond by looking at how we can do more to drive out the benefits of specialist regulation and what the CLC can do to hasten the transformation of conveyancing in the interests of consumers and the public. [Read more]

Chair’s Report of the CLC Council meeting 27th July 2023

7 August, 2023

This is now published on our website with information about fee-setting, disciplinary action and much more. Read the report

Chair’s Report of the Council Meeting of 2nd February 2023

10 February, 2023

Chair’s Report from Dame Janet Paraskeva This was the Council’s first meeting of 2023 and there was a busy agenda. We had hoped to welcome members of the Legal Services Board for a face to face joint board session and hope that this can be rearranged soon. Competence Setting standards for entry to the profession [Read more]

Prevention V Enforcement

9 January, 2023

How much can legal regulation be about prevention rather than enforcement? Is the current model favoured by most of the regulators too focused on disciplining wrongdoing, rather than more active engagement to stop it in the first instance and promoting ongoing competence? Which approach do lawyers best engage with? The Council for Licensed Conveyancers recently [Read more]

Chairs report of November Council Meeting

15 November, 2022

Read the full report by Dame Janet Paraskeva

Your questions answered: Issues discussed in our Twitter Q&A

14 October, 2022

From stamp duty cuts to cyber-crime and the cutting-edge technology transforming the conveyancing sector, there was lots to discuss at the CLC’s first Twitter Q&A. Stephen Ward, our director of strategy and external relations, was in the hot seat as we tried to cover off the issues most important for conveyancers and consumers. For anyone [Read more]

Chair’s Report of the Council Meeting of 28th July

13 September, 2022

CLC Council Meeting 12th May 2022

17 May, 2022

Chair’s Report from Dame Janet Paraskeva This is my second written report on a CLC Council meeting. There was a very positive response to the first one, covering the Council meeting of 12th February 2022.  These reports aim to give those we regulate and other stakeholders a different insight into how we go about our [Read more]

CLC Council Meeting 10th February 2022

14 February, 2022

Chair’s Report from Dame Janet Paraskeva This is the first time I have written a report on a CLC Council meeting. I hope that it will give those we regulate and other stakeholders a different insight into how we go about our work. We have formal quarterly meetings to review performance and to consider policy [Read more]

The Role of the Regulator

25 January, 2022

This article first appeared in What Mortgage Magazine. Regulators are like football referees – it’s best when you don’t notice us. And we want the game, or rather the market, to flow with minimal intervention. But there come times when we have to act where clients face an immediate risk and that action has to [Read more]