Lawyer Monthly Magazine - April 2019 Edition

10 Monthly Round-Up www. lawyer-monthly .com APR 2019 The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has now confirmed that the new Accounts Rules and regu- latory model will come into effect on 25 Novem- ber 2019. The new regu- lations offer firms an op- portunity to reassess what they are currently doing and make changes to im- prove processes that are currently in place. The SRA states that the new regulatory model will focus on simplicity and flexibility. There are a number of key changes ahead, including: • new Accounts Rules Move to Encourage In- ternational Business After Brexit The Home Office has brought forward plans for two new visa routes to be introduced for skilled businesspeople in a bid to attract more international talent and will reform the Tier 1 Investor route, the Immigration Minister was announced on 7 March. The two new routes – the Start-up visa route and Innovator visa route – will open on 29 March 2019, when the UK is set to exit the European Union. Philip Barth, Head of Im- migration at Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth said: “This which are much simpler and more principles- based • separate codes of con- duct for firms and individu- als • permitting freelance so- licitors to provide reserved legal services • allowing solicitors to carry out non-reserved work when operating within a business that is not regulated by a legal services regulator. The new Accounts Rules aim to be shorter, simpler and to reduce the num- is a welcome move from the Home Office, but as always the devil will be in the detail – and the date on which these new visa routes are to be imple- mented will not go unno- ticed. The Start-Up Visa route is intended for those start- ing a business for the first time in the UK. Replacing the existing Tier 1 Gradu- ate Entrepreneur route, the Start-Up visa will be for all people rather than just recent graduates. A key change is that entre- preneurs will have double the amount of time – two years rather than one – to make their business a suc- cess before needing to make any more applica- ber of prescriptive and date-sensitive require- ments, which caused a number of trivial breaches of the 2011 rules. National audit, tax, advi- sory and risk firm, Crowe UK, advises that, while awaiting further support- ing guidance from the SRA, legal firms should consider which areas are likely to be impacted by the new regulations and begin to prepare for the changes ahead. Ross Prince, Partner, Pro- fessional Practices, Crowe UK, said: “Despite the sig- nificant rewrite, for most tions. The Innovator Visa route is a new path for more experienced business- people with the funds to invest in their business, but they will only need £50,000 to invest rather than the £200,000 cur- rently required under the Tier 1 Entrepreneur route. After three years they will be able to apply for set- tled status if their business has succeeded. The Home Office will also reform the Tier 1 Inves- tor visa route by the 29 March. Applicants will now be required to prove they have had control of the £2m investment re- SRA’s New Regulatory Model Gives Legal Firms an Opportunity to Improve Processes Home Office Announces Start Date for Major Changes to Tier 1 Visa Routes BUSINESS IMMIGRATION LAW firms, there should be few significant changes to im- plement. That being said, the new regulations will create space for firms to take a more autonomous role in the way they work and do business. “We anticipate that these changes will provide a catalyst for solicitors to ex- plore new business mod- els and service delivery outside of the traditional firm structure.” Steve Gale, Partner, Pro- fessional Practices, Crowe UK, said: “The SRA’s new Accounts Rules present quirement for two years rather than the 90 days currently in place, or they will need to provide evi- dence of the source of those funds. The reformed Tier 1 Inves- tor route will also exclude investment in government bonds, meaning the route will only be available to those who invest in UK businesses. The news comes after a botched announcement from the Home Office last year that the Tier 1 Investor visa route would be sus- pended pending reform, only for the government to backtrack on these proposals a day later. an opportunity for firms to do things differently. The principles-based ap- proach for the new Ac- counts Rules marks a step forward as it allows firms the flexibility to implement their own guidelines and policies. “The November imple- mentation date gives firms some time to look at their systems and policies and think about how they might want to change. We await the release of the toolkits and guidance from the SRA as these should aid firms as they do this.” Immigration experts at Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth suggest the big changes to the Tier 1 vi- sas are in a bid to both encourage international business to the UK follow- ing Brexit as well as to miti- gate criticism of wealthy foreign investors whose money comes from dubi- ous sources. Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth has recently com- mented that London ‘will remain a world-class city for decades to come’ de- spite Brexit, which is sup- ported by estate agent Knight Frank’s latest report of London remaining the premier financial cen- tre of the world for 2019 ahead of New York.