This Practice Note identifies key sections of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA 2023) that may have compliance implications for law firms. It is intended as a high level summary only and signposts more detailed ECCTA 2023 content where appropriate.

ECCTA 2023 received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. It aims to strengthen the UK’s fight against economic crime.

This Practice Note focuses on the key amendments that could have compliance implications for law firms. These are predominantly found in Part 5, and include:

1. •

   corporate criminal liability for the actions of senior managers—see section: Corporate criminal liability for actions of senior managers

2. •

   the failure to prevent fraud offence—see section: Failure to prevent fraud offence

3. •

   additional defences under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA 2002)—see section: Defence against money laundering

4. •

   operational changes in relation to the publication of the UK’s high-risk countries list—see section: High-risk countries list

5. •

   statutory protection for breach of confidentiality—see section: Statutory protection for breach of confidentiality—economic crime

6. •

   unlimited SRA fining