Professional & Financial Services

Which legal and accounting rules apply to your business

Legal and accountancy practices are regulated by profession, not premises. Solicitors answer to the SRA, barristers to the Bar Standards Board, patent and trade mark attorneys to IPReg, statutory auditors to a Recognised Supervisory Body overseen by the FRC, and insolvency practitioners to a Recognised Professional Body. Almost every firm in this sector also needs anti-money-laundering supervision, and all share the same office workplace duties.

UK-wide
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UK-wide

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Regulation in this sector follows the reserved activity, not the firm. The Legal Services Act 2007 reserves six legal activities to authorised persons in England and Wales; the Companies Act 2006 reserves statutory audit to registered auditors; and the Insolvency Act 1986 reserves insolvency appointments to authorised insolvency practitioners. Around those gateways sit anti-money-laundering supervision under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 — being in business without a supervisor is a criminal offence — and the ordinary duties of any office employer.

Find your profession below, then follow the route that matches.

Where to start

  1. 1

    Solicitors and law firms

    Follow "Get SRA authorisation for your law firm" and the wider law-firm guidance: SRA Standards and Regulations, client money under the SRA Accounts Rules, professional indemnity insurance, anti-money-laundering compliance for law firms, complaints handling and the annual compliance checklist for law firms.

  2. 2

    Barristers, patent attorneys and trade mark attorneys

    Follow "Run a barristers' practice or IP attorney firm" for Bar Standards Board authorisation, practising certificates and litigation extensions, and the IPReg registers.

  3. 3

    Accountants, auditors, tax advisers and insolvency practitioners

    Follow "Run an accountancy, audit or insolvency practice" for statutory audit registration, insolvency practitioner authorisation, HMRC registration for tax advisers and your AML supervisor.

  4. 4

    Every practice: workplace and office duties

    Follow "Set up and run a safe legal or accounting practice" for health and safety, fire safety, employers' liability insurance, equality and data protection.

Anti-money-laundering supervision

Most legal and accountancy firms are 'relevant persons' under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 and must be supervised for anti-money-laundering compliance. Your supervisor is normally your professional body — the Solicitors Regulation Authority for law firms, or bodies such as ICAEW and ACCA for accountants. Accountancy and tax firms with no professional-body supervisor must register with HMRC and pay its fees (an application fee plus an annual charge for each set of premises). Trading without supervision is a criminal offence.

Devolved regulation

The Legal Services Act 2007 framework applies in England and Wales. In Scotland, solicitors are regulated by the Law Society of Scotland and advocates by the Faculty of Advocates; the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2025 is reforming the Scottish framework in stages. In Northern Ireland, the Law Society of Northern Ireland and the Bar of Northern Ireland regulate, overseen by the Legal Services Oversight Commissioner. Audit, insolvency and anti-money-laundering regulation are UK-wide, with separate insolvency appointment rules in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Official sources

The oversight bodies for legal and accountancy regulation.