U.S. law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett was fined
300,000 pounds ($389,069) on Wednesday over breaches of anti-money laundering
rules at its London office.
The firm agreed to a settlement with the Solicitors
Regulation Authority (SRA), which regulates solicitors in England and Wales, under
which Simpson Thacher will also pay 62,000 pounds towards the SRA's legal
costs.
Simpson Thacher admitted failing to have a firm-wide risk
assessment between June 2017 and March 2020, as required by British money
laundering regulations.
It also accepted not having a fully-compliant firm-wide risk
assessment from March 2020 until February 2023, after the SRA announced it was
bringing a regulatory case in August.
The SRA did not allege Simpson Thacher's admitted breaches
led to any money laundering, but the regulator said in court filings, opens new
tab that they created "an increased risk of money laundering".
A spokesperson for Simpson Thacher said in a statement that
the firm's London office "acknowledges and regrets certain historic
shortcomings in some of our UK AML (anti-money laundering) written
policies".
The spokesperson added that the firm has "made
significant investments to enhance our robust compliance function".
An SRA spokesperson said in a statement: "Money
laundering is not a victimless crime and can have detrimental effects on many,
many people.
"Solicitors have an important role to play in keeping
the profits of crime out of the profession and the wider UK economy."
Simpson Thacher is the latest major law firm to face
disciplinary action over alleged breaches of money laundering regulations.
Global law firm Clyde & Co was last year fined 500,000
pounds after admitting multiple breaches of money laundering regulations
relating to a long-standing client.
The SRA's prosecution of fellow global firm Dentons was
dismissed by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in March. But that decision
was overturned on appeal on Tuesday and the SRA's case was sent back to the
tribunal.
No comments:
Post a Comment