Tribunal found repeated dishonest failures to report regulatory information to the BSB and Inn
Zeeshan Saqib Mian has been struck off the Roll of Solicitors after the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found that he repeatedly failed to disclose regulatory information to the Bar Standards Board (BSB) and Lincoln’s Inn.
The Tribunal found that Mian breached Principles 2, 6 and 7 of the SRA Principles 2011. It found dishonesty in relation to his failure to notify the Inn and BSB after practising certificate conditions were imposed in September 2016, and in his subsequent failure to report regulatory matters after his call to the Bar.
The case concerned Mian’s conduct while seeking admission and call to the Bar. In December 2015, the SRA had notified him that it was formally investigating matters concerning his former firm, including issues arising from a forensic investigation. By February 2016, he had signed a BSB admission application containing a declaration requiring disclosure of circumstances that might reasonably be relevant to whether he should be called to the Bar.
However, the Tribunal did not find this first allegation proved. It concluded that the wording of the BSB declaration did not create a sufficiently clear obligation to disclose the SRA investigation at that stage. The BSB’s evidence also did not establish that Mian had breached a rule by failing to disclose it.
The position changed by May 2016. Mian had been told that the SRA was considering imposing conditions on his practising certificate when he signed the Inn’s Admission and Call Declarations. Those declarations required disclosure of matters that might reasonably call into question his fitness to become a practising barrister and expressly stated that matters should be disclosed if there was doubt.
The Tribunal found that Mian should have disclosed the proposed conditions. It found this conduct reckless, but not dishonest, because it could not exclude the possibility that he genuinely believed the conditions concerned solicitor practice management rather than his fitness to practise as a barrister.
The Tribunal reached a different conclusion once formal conditions had been imposed. The SRA imposed the conditions on 2 September 2016 and its Adjudication Panel upheld them on 2 November 2016. Mian did not notify the Inn or BSB before being called to the Bar on 24 November 2016.
The Tribunal found that these were material developments that plainly had to be reported. It rejected Mian’s argument that the conditions were irrelevant because they primarily restricted solicitor-management functions.
The Tribunal also found that his failure to report continued after his call to the Bar. Under Rule C65.3 of the BSB Handbook, he was required to report relevant disciplinary or other regulatory action by another regulator. The Tribunal found that he deliberately failed to disclose the SRA conditions, continuing regulatory enquiries and, from April 2018, the referral to the SDT. It found this conduct dishonest.
In deciding sanction, the Tribunal found Mian’s culpability to be high. It considered the misconduct deliberate, repeated and extended over a significant period. It also found substantial harm to the regulatory process and public confidence because the Inn and BSB had been deprived of the opportunity to assess the information when considering his admission, call and regulatory standing.
The Tribunal considered lesser sanctions but concluded that none would adequately protect the public, maintain confidence in the profession or reflect the seriousness of the dishonest conduct. It found no exceptional circumstances justifying a sanction short of strike-off.
Mian was therefore struck off the Roll of Solicitors and ordered to pay £40,000 in costs. The order was dated 2 September 2026.