An Oxford law firm has been fined after prolonged failures to meet AML obligations
An Oxford-based law firm has been fined £21,764 after admitting long-running failures to comply with anti-money laundering regulations, following an investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Trueman’s Solicitors Limited, a recognised body regulated by the SRA, entered into a regulatory settlement agreement dated 30 December 2025. The outcome was published on 5 January 2026. As part of the agreement, the firm also agreed to pay £600 towards the costs of the investigation and to the publication of the decision.
The SRA’s investigation followed an inspection carried out by its anti-money laundering proactive supervision team. The regulator identified multiple areas of concern relating to the firm’s compliance with the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing Regulations 2017, as well as breaches of the SRA Principles and the Code of Conduct for Firms.
Between August 2018 and May 2025, the firm failed to maintain fully compliant policies, controls and procedures designed to mitigate and manage the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing. These deficiencies meant the firm did not adequately address risks identified, or required to be identified, through firm wide risk assessments.
The investigation also found failures in relation to customer due diligence and source of funds checks. In four client files, the firm either failed to conduct ongoing monitoring of transactions, including scrutiny of the source of funds where required, or failed to properly record the steps taken to meet regulatory requirements.
Further breaches were identified in two files where the firm failed to retain records of client and matter risk assessments. As a result, it was unable to demonstrate that the measures it had applied were appropriate, as required by the regulations.
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The firm admitted the breaches. The SRA accepted that the misconduct spanned both the pre and post-November 2019 regulatory regimes and amounted to failures to comply with anti-money laundering legislation, maintain public trust, and operate effective governance and risk management systems.
In deciding that a financial penalty was appropriate, the SRA said the firm’s conduct demonstrated a disregard for statutory and regulatory obligations and created a risk of harm. Conveyancing work formed a large proportion of the firm’s practice, a sector recognised as carrying a heightened risk of money laundering abuse.
Although there was no evidence of actual harm to clients and no financial gain arising from the misconduct, the regulator said the firm’s prolonged non-compliance left it vulnerable to misuse by criminals. The firm only achieved full compliance following the SRA’s review and guidance.
The SRA assessed the misconduct as more serious in nature, with a medium level of risk of harm. This placed the sanction within Band C of its financial penalty guidance. A reduction was applied to reflect the firm’s cooperation, early admissions, remediation and the absence of client harm.
The SRA said publication of the agreement was in the public interest and necessary to maintain transparency and confidence in the regulatory process.