A Bolton solicitors firm says they have put “more stringent” measures in place after being fined more than £3,000 following an investigation.  

Oakmount Law Solicitors, based on St Helens Road in Daubhill, were investigated by the Solicitor Regulation Authority with the watchdog’s report published this month.

Together they agreed that they would pay a fine of £3,120 as well as paying £600 to cover the costs of the investigation.

A statement from Oakmount Law Solicitors said: “Upon identification of issues in February 2022 we worked collaboratively with the SRA to put more stringent policies into place.”

It added: “The SRA also specifically stated that there was no evidence of harm to consumers or third parties and there is a low risk of repetition, as evidenced in the agreement.”

The Bolton News: The firm has agreed to pay a fine of more than £3,000The firm has agreed to pay a fine of more than £3,000 (Image: Google Maps)

An agreement published by the Solicitor Regulation Authority shows that they are satisfied that the Bolton firm is now compliant.

The investigation had at first found areas of concern relating to the firm’s compliance with the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLRs 2017), the SRA Principles 2011, the SRA Code of Conduct 2011, the SRA Principles 2019 and the SRA Code of Conduct for Firms 2019.

In a questionnaire completed by the Bolton firm on February 25 last year, Oakmount Law Solicitors admitted it had been using a client and matter risk assessment as its firm-wide anti-money laundering risk assessment.

The SRA ruled that this document did not meet the regulatory requirements and did not address certain key risk factors.

But the SRA’s report also found that since early last year, Oakmount Law had updated its firm-wide risk assessment, which considers factors published by the government.

The report said: “The firm confirmed in the questionnaire that as of 16 February 2022 it updated its FWRA to a far more comprehensive document.

“A FWRA dated June 2022 was provided to our AML Proactive team for review and we were generally satisfied with this document.”

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It added: “There has been no evidence of harm to consumers or third parties and there is now a lower risk of repetition since the firm brought itself into compliance in January 2023.”

The watchdog’s report also found whatever the initial failings had been, Oakmount Solicitors had not benefited financially from them.

It said: “The firm does not appear to have made any financial gain or received any other benefit as a result of its conduct.

“Therefore, no adjustment is necessary to remove this and the amount of the fine is £3,120.”