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.
Step 1 — Put the workplace and office duties in place
Every practice: health and safety, fire safety, employers' liability insurance, equality and data protection.
Step 2 — Get authorised for your profession
Solicitors and law firms
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.
Start a law firm
The full path for setting up a law firm.
Barristers, patent attorneys and trade mark attorneys
Bar Standards Board authorisation, practising certificates and litigation extensions, and the IPReg registers.
Accountants, auditors, tax advisers and insolvency practitioners
Statutory audit registration, insolvency practitioner authorisation, HMRC registration for tax advisers and your AML supervisor.
Step 3 — 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.