Regulatory Update July 2025

James Price

Welcome to this month’s Regulatory Update for July 2025, where we’ll be covering key developments across compliance, data protection, legal regulation, and ongoing competence. These updates are relevant for all legal professionals looking to stay informed and prepared for upcoming changes that may affect your firm or individual practice.

James Price

Let’s start with an important communication from the SRA. The Solicitors Regulation Authority has launched a new data collection exercise focused on anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance. Over the coming weeks, all regulated firms will receive a questionnaire from the SRA. It’s important to review the questions carefully and respond promptly, as this is a formal request from the regulator. To help you prepare, we’ve already covered the themes of the questionnaire in our recent Monthly Compliance Update. You can also access additional insight in the Spring Update webinar, or download a copy of the questionnaire and guidance directly from the SRA’s website.

James Price

Now, let’s move on to upcoming changes to the SRA Accounts Rules. We’re expecting the SRA to publish the outcomes of its recent consultation on client money and the authorisation of accumulator firms. The Legal Services Board has now directed the SRA to proceed, and as a result, we’ll soon see updated accounts rules and new guidance for reporting accountants. As soon as the final rules—or any further consultations—are released, Datalaw will launch two new webinars: one covering the revised accounts rules, and the other explaining updated reporting obligations for accountants working with law firms.

James Price

Let’s turn now to changes in data protection law—specifically, the Data Use and Access Act 2025. The former Data Use and Access Bill has now officially come into effect as the Data Use and Access Act 2025. This legislation introduces a number of amendments to the UK’s GDPR framework and strengthens the ICO’s regulatory powers. Key changes include the introduction of new legal grounds for processing data, referred to as "recognised legitimate interests", the addition of "biometric categorisation" as a new type of special category data, and revised rules on subject access requests. These now allow organisations to charge a fee for excessive requests and extend the response deadline beyond the standard one-month period. The Act also introduces new classifications of information—called "customer data" and "business data"—which will be defined further through upcoming regulations. For more detail, we recommend watching our full breakdown in the “Data Use and Access Bill” webinar.

James Price

Next, I’ll cover recent developments from the Council for Licensed Conveyancers on ongoing competence. The CLC has now published its response to the Ongoing Competence consultation. They’ve asked the Legal Services Board to approve a new Competence Code, which will require licensed conveyancers to complete a set number of CPD hours and undertake training in specific areas relevant to their role.In addition, the CLC is proposing a major shift toward practice-wide reporting. If approved, all CLC-regulated firms will need to submit annual reports on their internal training activities. This will be a significant change from current practice and will require a more structured approach to staff development and compliance tracking.It’s worth noting that the SRA has also expressed interest in reviewing ongoing competence. In future, they may adopt a similar approach that would require firms to report internal CPD activities as part of their annual renewal process.

James Price

To wrap up… That brings us to the end of this month’s update. From AML data obligations to changes in GDPR and evolving competence expectations, there’s a clear shift toward more structured and accountable regulatory practices across the board. If you’d like further guidance on any of these updates—or need support preparing your firm for what’s ahead— feel free to visit datalaw or speak to one of our advisors. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you again for the next compliance update.