The UK government has confirmed that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) expects to begin supervising anti-money laundering (AML) efforts for legal professionals before the end of 2028, with full sector onboarding targetted for mid-2030.
This milestone represents the biggest structural shift in legal compliance in years, moving anti-money laundering supervision away from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and into a single, unified regime.
What Is Changing?
Under the Financial Services and Markets Bill, the FCA will take over AML supervisory duties from 23 individual professional bodies to create a more consistent, risk-based supervisory framework. This means FCA AML audits for law firms in the future.
Key impacts for legal practices include:
- Effectiveness over paperwork:The FCA’s inspection model focuses heavily on whether controls actually work in practice, rather than simply having static policies on file.
- Dual regulation:While the SRA retains responsibility for general professional conduct, the FCA will manage AML registration, oversight, and enforcement.
- Heightened standards:Expectations around fit-and-proper testing, client due diligence, and suspicious activity reporting (SAR) handling will become significantly more stringent.
How to Prepare Before 2028
Waiting until the transition window opens is a risky strategy. Law firms should treat the next two years as an implementation runway to identify weaknesses, tidy client records, and test existing frameworks.
To learn how to audit your current controls, understand key regulatory expectations, and safeguard your firm ahead of the FCA shift, read this detailed guide on what solicitors need to know and how to prepare for FCA AML oversight
.