Regulatory and risk
Compliance
The compliance function a scaling firm needs, run as a department rather than a box-ticking exercise.
Growth multiplies regulatory exposure. More clients means more financial promotions, more introducer relationships, more complaints, more data and more files a regulator could ask to see. Most firms handle this with an overstretched COLP and a folder of policies nobody reads. We run compliance as a department: obligations mapped to owners, every campaign and partner agreement checked before it goes live, files reviewed on a schedule, complaints handled to standard, and the evidence a regulator or auditor expects ready at all times.
The problem
The COLP and COFA are the same people running the firm. Policies are out of date, introducer arrangements have never been reviewed, complaints are handled ad hoc, and nobody is confident what an SRA visit or an FCA data request would find.
Who it's for
Firms scaling into higher volumes of regulated work, firms operating under both SRA and FCA regimes such as claims and financial mis-selling, and firms whose growth plan depends on introducers, marketing and automation that all carry regulatory risk.
What you get
A firm that can scale marketing, introducers and automation without multiplying regulatory risk, with the evidence to prove it whenever a regulator, insurer or acquirer asks.
What the department does
Obligation mapping and ownership
Every SRA, FCA, ICO and AML obligation the firm carries listed, mapped to a named owner, a control and the evidence that proves it, and kept current as the regulations and the firm change.
Financial promotions and marketing sign-off
Every campaign, landing page, script and partner creative reviewed against SRA transparency rules and, where they apply, FCA financial promotion and Consumer Duty requirements before it goes live. A sign-off log for every asset.
Introducer and third-party due diligence
Referral and fee-sharing arrangements checked against SRA referral rules and FCA requirements, partner due diligence completed and refreshed, and the agreements and disclosures clients see kept compliant as the network grows.
File reviews and supervision
A scheduled file review programme across matter types and handlers, with findings tracked to closure and fed into training, so supervision is evidenced rather than assumed.
Complaints, data and AML
Complaints handled to the firm's procedure and the Legal Ombudsman timeline with root causes recorded. DSARs, data breaches and retention handled to ICO standard. Client due diligence, risk assessments and source-of-funds checks run and evidenced.
Audit readiness and regulator engagement
Policies, registers, training records and evidence maintained so that an SRA visit, an FCA request or a professional indemnity renewal is a routine exercise rather than a scramble. Support for COLP and COFA reporting and for regulator correspondence.
How it runs
Compliance diagnostic
Which regimes apply, what the firm's obligations are, where the gaps and the live risks sit, and what a regulator would find today.
Close the gaps
Obligations register built, policies updated, sign-off process installed on marketing and introducers, file review programme started, complaints and data procedures brought to standard.
Run the function
Sign-offs, file reviews, complaints and AML checks run on their rhythm, registers kept current, training delivered, and a monthly compliance report to the COLP, COFA and leadership team.
What you receive
- Obligations register with named owners, controls and evidence
- Marketing and financial promotions sign-off process and log
- Introducer due diligence and agreement review
- Scheduled file review programme with tracked findings
- Complaints, DSAR and AML procedures run and evidenced
- Policies, registers and training records kept audit-ready
What it looks like
A claims firm scaling through introducers and paid marketing has never had its referral agreements or its adverts formally reviewed. We build the obligations register, review and re-paper the introducer arrangements against SRA and FCA rules, install a sign-off step on every campaign, and start a monthly file review across handlers. When the firm's PI insurer and then the regulator ask questions, the answers and the evidence are already in the register.
The other departments
Is compliance where growth is blocked?
Book a two-week diagnostic. You'll get a written plan for this department, what it costs and what it should return.
Book a diagnostic