If you are thinking of setting up a new legal services venture or changing the corporate status, this will likely involve completing an application for authorisation with the designated regulator such as the SRA or BSB. There is some flexibility allowing you to “shop around” for the right regulator for your entity and the decision will often need knowledge of the regulators rules and requirements.

Even when this decision has been made, the application process can be onerous and time-consuming requiring submission of business plans, financial forecasts, compliance plans, risk assessments and other regulatory paperwork. Finding the time to undertake this detailed work at the same time as setting up the practical aspects of your venture can be incredibly difficult.

Here at Beyond Compliance, we are experienced at supporting businesses with applications to both the SRA and BSB and can help you cut through the “red-tape” ensuring that your application has the best chance of succeeding without the need for substantial questioning by the regulator.

What does it involve?

This very much depends on what your needs are; this might be:

  • Helping you decide on the best regulator for your venture
  • Providing coaching or a sounding board to help you develop your business plan so that it best meets the regulator’s risk management approach
  • Undertaking risk assessments
  • Drafting your compliance plan, risk management strategy and any other compliance documents needed

Cost

As your venture will be specific to you and the services are bespoke, it’s not possible to put an upfront cost on it but once the parameters of the project are agreed, a fixed fee will be set.

The time and energy this will free up for you to focus on the practical elements of your venture, as well as the objective overview our services will give you, are invaluable.

Case Study

Two solicitors employed in separate practices and in different but complimentary practice areas wanted to establish themselves as a limited company offering reserved legal activity. After initial discussion and consideration, we advised that the SRA would be the best regulator for them given that they wanted to operate a client account and take advantage of the FCA insurance distribution exemption.

The Result

We worked with them to complete their business plan, financial forecasts, compliance and risk management documents and all documents needed for the application which was submitted to the SRA. The application process took around a month in total to complete and the cost for our support was £2,500.00 There were two simple questions from the SRA and six weeks later the entity was authorised.

The client said:

We had been talking for some time about setting up this new venture but never seemed to have the time to bring this to fruition. The support we received from Beyond Compliance was brilliant, forcing us to focus our minds and make our plans a reality. They also gave us the confidence to know that we could succeed in our venture.