By Anita Rice


Solicitors filed 11,300 suspicious activity reports (SARs), or 14% of all non-banking sector reports and more than any other professional group, according to the first SARs annual report by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), which has been obtained by the Gazette.



The number of SARs logged by solicitors has increased dramatically since the Proceeds of Organised Crime Act 2002. Before, lawyers were heavily criticised for making only 1% of the 31,251 suspicious transaction reports logged during 2001/02.



The figure for the year to 30 September 2007 represents a near 4,000% increase. There is, however, concern among professionals regarding the cost and efficiency of the SARs regime.



Over the past year, SOCA received 220,484 SARs, of which more than 140,000 came from banks. A spokesman said: 'Reports from legal professionals play an important part in the SARs regime... lawyers have responsibilities, both to their clients and to the wider public interest in preventing and detecting crime. In reporting information on suspicious activity they are making a significant contribution to the latter, as Parliament intended.'



The report states that SOCA, which took over responsibility for the SARs regime in October 2006, has made good progress against a checklist of areas for improvement set down by the Lander review. These include more feedback and training on a sector-specific basis, better adherence to confidentiality issues and better use of reports.



Robin Booth, partner with London firm BCL Burton Copeland and chairman of the Law Society's money laundering task force, agreed, but he warned of continuing issues: 'The legislation is far from satisfactory, particularly in relation to the consent regime. It is a rigid system that can interfere with carrying out transactions. There are also concerns around the use of reports and the quality of feedback and statistics which SOCA still needs to address.'



Law Society President Andrew Holroyd said: 'We are really pleased that SOCA has taken steps to build dialogue with solicitors and we are working alongside them to ensure that firms receive appropriate intelligence alerts and case studies to comply with their obligations.'