Exmouth law firm fined £20,234 after sra probe finds serious AML compliance failures
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has fined Vine Orchards LLP more than £20,000 after identifying a series of anti-money laundering (AML) control failures at the Exmouth-based firm.
The regulator imposed the penalty following an investigation triggered by a review from its AML Proactive Supervision team. The firm, based at Trinity Chambers, Rolle Street, agreed to the regulatory settlement and will also pay £600 towards the SRA’s investigation costs.
The decision, dated 24 September 2025 and published on 2 October, found that Vine Orchards failed to comply with key provisions of the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLRs 2017) over an extended period, between October 2017 and May 2025.
Investigators said the firm did not have an adequate firm-wide risk assessment to identify and assess exposure to money laundering risks, failed to maintain fully compliant AML policies and procedures, and did not update them regularly as required. In half of the six files reviewed, the firm had not sufficiently assessed the level of risk, and in three of those cases it failed to conduct adequate ongoing monitoring, including scrutiny of clients’ sources of funds.
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The SRA concluded that Vine Orchards had also failed to meet its wider obligations under both the SRA Principles 2011 and the SRA Principles 2019, as well as the relevant Codes of Conduct for Firms. In particular, the regulator found that the firm had breached its duties to act in a way that maintained public trust, ensure effective governance, and keep up to date with legal and regulatory requirements.
The firm admitted the breaches. The SRA noted that more than half of its work involves conveyancing, an area repeatedly identified as high risk for money laundering. Although no direct harm to clients was identified, the regulator said the lack of proper AML systems for several years exposed the firm to the risk of being used to facilitate money laundering or terrorist financing.
The regulator said Vine Orchards had since taken steps to rectify its compliance failures, implementing a risk assessment and updated policies. It cooperated with the investigation and, as a result, the risk of repetition was assessed as low.
In deciding on sanction, the SRA placed the misconduct in “Band C” of its penalty guidance, scoring it as more serious with medium impact. The basic penalty was calculated at £22,483 but reduced to £20,234 to reflect mitigation.
The regulator said the sanction was proportionate and in the public interest, providing both accountability and deterrence. “The conduct showed a disregard for statutory and regulatory obligations and had the potential to cause harm by facilitating dubious transactions,” the SRA explained. It added that the public would expect firms of solicitors to comply with their obligations as a minimum safeguard.
The decision was reached by agreement with Vine Orchards, which accepted both the findings and the sanction. Under publication rules, the outcome is made public unless there are exceptional circumstances, which the SRA confirmed did not apply.
The case highlights once again the regulator’s focus on AML compliance in conveyancing firms, an area seen as particularly vulnerable to criminal exploitation given the large sums of money passing through single transactions.