Pudsey firm admits systemic AML failings spanning 2017–2025, triggering a five-figure SRA penalty
A West Yorkshire solicitors’ firm has been handed a financial penalty of £18,453 after investigators found it had failed to maintain compliant and properly documented anti-money laundering (AML) controls for much of the period between 2017 and 2025.
John Howe & Co Solicitors Limited, based at Co-operative Chambers in Pudsey, Leeds, was the subject of a Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) investigation triggered by a desk-based AML review. The outcome, dated 16 June 2026 and published a week later, lays bare a catalogue of compliance failures that persisted well over two regulatory periods.
At the heart of the case was the firm’s failure to maintain a documented firm-wide risk assessment (FWRA), a fundamental legal requirement under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing Regulations 2017. From June 2017 until February 2024, the firm failed to maintain a written record of its firm-wide risk assessment, as required by the regulations. The SRA further found that between February 2024 and December 2025, the firm did not have a fully compliant firm-wide risk assessment in place. A compliant assessment was only provided in December 2025.
Between June 2017 and June 2024, the firm failed to maintain written records of its policies, controls and procedures and failed to regularly review and update them. The SRA also found that the policies and procedures in place between June 2024 and December 2025 were not fully compliant with the Money Laundering Regulations. Updated and compliant PCPs were only provided in December 2025.
The SRA noted that conveyancing, a practice area particularly vulnerable to money laundering, made up a significant portion of the firm’s workload, heightening the risk posed by these gaps. Though no evidence of actual financial crime was uncovered, the SRA concluded that the firm had been left vulnerable to money laundering risks and assessed the risk of harm as medium.
The firm admitted breaches spanning two successive SRA regulatory frameworks, the SRA Principles 2011 and the SRA Standards and Regulations that came into force in November 2019. Across both periods, investigators found failures relating to governance, record-keeping, and adherence to applicable legislation.
In mitigation, the SRA acknowledged that the firm cooperated throughout the investigation and ultimately put compliant documentation in place. Those factors led to a reduction from the initial calculated penalty of £21,710 down to the agreed £18,453. The firm must also pay £600 towards investigation costs.
The SRA said publication of the agreement was appropriate in the public interest and in the interests of transparency within the regulatory and disciplinary process.