Solicitor fined £17,000 for failing to warn clients of risks in doomed property schemes
A City solicitor has been fined £17,000 after admitting failures in advising clients on high-risk property investments which ultimately collapsed. Ming Fai Tam, also known as Matthew Tam, was principal of Batchford Solicitors and later MFT Solicitors, which acted between 2017 and 2020 on more than 300 overseas buyer-led property purchases.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) said Tam charged clients around £1,300 for each transaction, but failed to provide adequate supervision of staff or to highlight clear warning signs about the investment structures. The developments, sold mainly to buyers in the Far East, were marketed as opportunities to buy into flats, student accommodation or hotel rooms, with guaranteed rental income. In practice, the schemes were dependent on payments to special purchase vehicles with no trading history. Deposits of between 30% and 100% of the purchase price were required upfront.
The projects ultimately failed, leaving clients without the promised returns. The SRA noted that buy-back guarantees were only enforceable if the developer had sufficient funds, and rental agreements were potentially ineffective. A forensic investigation of 14 client files across six developments confirmed multiple failings in the advice given and in the firm’s approach to supervision.
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Tam admitted that he did not give adequate advice about the risks inherent in off-plan fractional property schemes and failed to ensure that his clients fully understood the commitments they were entering into. He also accepted that he had not provided proper training for his staff or set up effective systems of supervision. The regulator highlighted that he had ignored official warning notices issued in 2016 and 2017 about the dangers of buyer-led property investments.
Batchford Solicitors, later known as MFT Solicitors, closed in 2021. In mitigation, Tam told the SRA that he has since changed his working practices. Now employed at Chan Neill Solicitors in the City of London, he said his files are reviewed by partners, and he no longer undertakes work involving fractional property investments such as hotel rooms or office space. He also confirmed that he only takes on new-build transactions where deposits are capped at 10% and are protected.
The SRA said the financial penalty was necessary to uphold public confidence in the profession. A spokesperson for the regulator said clients lost money as a result of investments they might not have pursued had they received proper advice. The fine, the SRA added, was designed to demonstrate the importance of solicitors maintaining standards of competence and providing adequate warnings about risks.
Tam agreed to the penalty of £17,000 and to pay investigation costs of £1,350. The regulator noted that although there was no evidence of dishonesty, the case reflected serious breaches of the duty owed to clients.
The sanction follows a series of interventions by the SRA into firms linked to high-risk property schemes. The regulator has repeatedly warned solicitors about the dangers of advising on fractional ownership and speculative development projects, stressing that such work often carries high risks of client loss.
The SRA concluded that while Tam has since taken steps to improve his practice, the failures between 2017 and 2020 warranted a substantial fine to underline the profession’s responsibilities.