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Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Consulting for Law Firms

Expert anti-money laundering guidance and advice for the legal sector

Is Your Law Firm Complying with the Latest AML/CTF/CFT Regulations?

With recent changes in Anti-money laundering (AML), Counter-terrorist financing (CTF), and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) legislation, it has never been more important for law firms to be able to demonstrate that they are taking steps, that are appropriate to their operations, to comply with the regulations.

However, even for firms with a dedicated compliance manager or compliance team, keeping up to date with the seemingly ceaseless changes is challenging and time/resource intensive.

Obtaining advice and support from our team of expert AML consultants will not only save you significant time and hassle, but also yield a significantly more robust risk & compliance controls, policies and procedures, ultimately providing a more cost effective solution.

AML Consulting Delivered by Experts

Our consultants have over two decades of experience and have assisted over 500 law firms. Against that backdrop, we know what ‘robust’ and ‘effective’ can look like for legal practices in the real world.

We recognise the pressures and obligations placed upon MLROs and MLCOs, who often have to juggle these roles with fee earning, supervision or management tasks, and that no two law firms are the same. And so, every aspect of our consultancy service is tailored to your firm’s individual risk profile and operations.

We can also conduct AML auditing and training for your teams, helping to make managing your firm’s AML compliance simpler, as well as providing consistent information and a cohesive experience for your teams.

Typical Areas Covered in AML Consulting:

Conducting or supporting Independent AML Audits.
Drafting individual Firm-Wide Risk Assessments.
Preparation for SRA visits.
Support following queries from regulators.
Regular AML input as part of your AML team; the ‘virtual MLRO’.
Reviews of individual controls, policies and procedures.
Matter file AML control reviews.
Reviews and guidance on Electronic ID/Verification (EID/V) systems.
One-to-one ad hoc support and guidance for MLROs, MLCOs and AML compliance managers.

Benefits of Using AML Consultants

As external consultants we work with dozens of firms every year; yielding a wealth of contemporary insight and experience that we can bring to your firm.
Lightening some of the burden placed upon MLROs, MLCOs and AML compliance managers.
Keep up to speed with latest developments and best practice in AML.
Having the opportunity to discuss and test new AML controls or concepts with a fresh and experienced pair of eyes.
Regulators are receptive to the benefits and perspectives from using independent insight and monitoring.

Pricing

We strive to provide you with unparalleled value through services that are bespoke to your practice.

Our pricing is competitive and transparent. And, it’s tailored according to the scope of the work that that we do for you.

Wherever possible, we conduct work on a fixed fee basis.

Join our free Best Practice Group and save:

Members of our free-to-join Best Practice Group receive a substantial discount on all of our services.

Find out more

PDA Legal as Your Compliance Manager

As often as not, MLRO, COLP and COFA roles are fulfilled by a Partner or other senior member of the organisation; in many cases reducing their time available for fee-earning or strategic work. Ultimate responsibility for risk and compliance rests with the practice and the MLRO, COLP and COFA, but we can take some of the weight off of their shoulders.

As part of our consultancy work, you may wish us to take a broader role to support your compliance leads, or to simply assist with certain aspects of compliance; the choice is entirely yours. Our compliance manager service is tailored to your practice and conducted on a fixed fee basis.

Learn more about our Compliance Manager service

Additional Areas of Expertise

Our team have expert knowledge and experience across a wide range of other important topics, so in addition to AML guidance and advance, we can also provide consultancy and support for:

The SRA Code of Conduct
Management and supervision
Lexcel; achieving and sustaining accreditation
Data protection and the GDPR
Cyber Security
Information security/management
Business continuity
Risk management
Email and communication

Why Choose PDA Legal?

The PDA Legal Team:

Has over 25 years experience in the legal sector.
Has supported over 500 legal organisations.
Has worked with The Law Society on Lexcel and has authored articles and spoken at national Law Society events on key compliance topics.
Conducts all discussions with you in strict confidence.
Operates, wherever possible, on a fixed price model and project scheduling, providing you with clear, transparent pricing.
Offers a free, no obligation initial consultation.

Book your free AML consultation today

What Our Clients Have to Say…

“Thank you for streamlining our procedures and policies, and for providing such helpful guidance on their implementation. We at last feel up-to-date!”
“We are so grateful that you have simplified what we had considered to be incredibly complex.”
“Your gap analysis report has provided us with a clear understanding of our situation; it's precisely what the business needed to know.”
“We have worked with other consultancies before, but yours was far and away the most thorough and worthwhile analysis of this practice. Thank you.”
“We now have a reliable structure for the screening of employees, thanks to guidance from PDA”
"PDA understands AML controls in the context of how real law firms actually work."
“AML felt like ‘smoke and mirrors’ until PDA simplified it for us.”
“PDA has been a second and third pair of hands to support our time-poor MLRO.”
“We knew that something wasn’t quite right with our AML processes; thank you, PDA, for pinpointing the issues for us.”
“PDA’s insight cut through the fog to help us select the appropriate EID/V system for our needs.”
“Thank you for streamlining our procedures and policies, and for providing such helpful guidance on their implementation. We at last feel up-to-date!”

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