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WOLVERHAMPTON LAW SOCIETY

Seminar: “Anti-Money Laundering: This Year’s Problems, Next Year’s Nightmares”

Thursday 7th April 2010 2pm to 3pm
(To be immediately followed by the Society’s AGM)

Speaker: Gary Christianson, Specialist Regulatory Solicitor. Gary has been a Partner and then Chairman of Shakespeare Putsmans Solicitors. For many years Gary has advised members of the Profession on all manner of Regulatory and Partnership issues, both contentious and non-contentious. He is a Member of the Law Society’s Money Laundering Directory, where Solicitors are referred to for advice when needed. He has dealt with cases for Solicitors involving Mortgage Fraud, Money Laundering, Referral Fees and Miners’ Compensation Claims together with issues arising out of the Code of Conduct and Accounts Rules. Gary also has experience in providing training on these issues.

Content of Seminar: Gary will guide us through the following:
· Current level of activity (putting your efforts into context)
· Future developments (what will be giving you sleepless nights next year)
· Tipping off; reality v. perception
· Customer Due Diligence
· Sanctions
· Sources of help and information

Cost: Free to Members of the Wolverhampton Law Society who attend the AGM
£20 to Non-Members and those not attending the AGM

CPD: CPD will be available

Venue: Linden House, 211 Tettenhall Road, Wolverhampton WV6 ODD

Time: 2pm to 3pm immediately followed by Law Society AGM (please stay with us for the AGM which should finish by 4pm)

Refreshments: Tea and Coffee will be provided

RSVP: Please confirm attendance at both Seminar and AGM by completing the booking slip found at the top of the page and sending to:

Nick Wynn-Williams, President of Wolverhampton Law Society
c/o Rees Page Solicitors, 8/12 Waterloo Road, Wolverhampton WV1 4BL
DX 10405 Wolverhampton,
Fax 01902 577735
e-mail nwynnwilliams@reespage.co.uk

by no later than 30th March 2011.

Nominations for the offices of President and Vice President

The following nominations have been received for the above detailed offices of the Society:-

President

Alex Thompson - Underhills

Vice-President

Guy Birkett - FBC Manby Bowdler

Joint Law Society and Wolverhampton University initiative

Members of the Society will recall that last year Wolverhampton University in collaboration with the City Council and the Mander Centre set up a “Law Shop”. Housed within a vacant retail unit on the ground floor of Wolverhampton’s flagship shopping centre the scheme ran as a successful pilot and the University is now looking to place it on a firmer footing.

An integral part of the service to be offered will be legal clinics similar to those which used to be provided at smaller CABs some years ago. It is envisioned that the clinics will be staffed by students and volunteers including, it is hoped, members of the Wolverhampton Law Society. The primary function of the clinics will be diagnostic together with appropriate sign-posting to more specialised advisors in other sectors be they legal (such as local solicitors), local authority help and advice (eg Trading Standards) and other organisations that assist in resolving day to day legal problems.

Introducing the initiative the Associate Dean at the University’s School of Law, Social Services and Communications, Lynn Leighton-Johnstone said:-

“ With reductions in legal aid funding in the pipeline and the added pressures the Recession has placed upon ordinary people there is a real risk that many will be denied access to justice. I hope that The Law Clinic will become a resource that the people of Wolverhampton and surrounding areas can turn to for practical help in finding solutions to the legal issues that arise in day-to-day life. The participation of Members of the Wolverhampton Law Society would not only enhance the level of service that could be offered but would send out a clear message that the legal profession in Wolverhampton is there to provide support to the wider community.”

In the first instance expressions of interest are sought from member firms of the Wolverhampton Law Society based upon a commitment from each to provide support for a clinic on one afternoon per month.

Those interested are invited to contact Nick Wynn-Williams by e-mail at nwynnwilliams@reespage.co.uk

Law Society Annual Charity Quiz

Members of the Wolverhampton Law Society engaged in a battle of the brains at the annual Charity Quiz held last week. 14 teams took part in the event under the watchful eye of quiz master Ian Garlick. With a total of 120 points up for grabs even the team which came last scored a creditable 65 so the award of a wooden spoon did not seem to be appropriate on this occasion. The winning team came from Underhills and the event raised over £200 for deserving causes.

A big thank you to those who organised the event, the teams that entered and also Lloyds Bank who donated £50.00.

Wanted……. a new President!

Our President Nick Wynn - Williams has announced that he will be standing down at the Society’s AGM. So now is your chance to put yourself forward as a candidate for his replacement. If you’re interested and would like to know more about the role of President why not give Nick a ring or contact him by e-mail at nwynnwilliams@reespage.co.uk?

The beginning of the end for residential conveyancing?

In this article which also appeared in the Solicitors Journal Wolverhampton Law Society Council Member Andrew Lund hopes to provide members some food for thought about the possible consequences of the latest housing “boom and bust”.

Let me make a brave and, most likely, controversial prediction which is this – in ten years time there will be no such thing as residential conveyancing. Instead, conveyancing as we know it will have been replaced by insurance backed certificates of title.

In order to appreciate how we may well arrive at this outcome we need to look at where we are at now and the main drivers for change.

Unlike 20 years ago conveyancing is no longer the preserve of Solicitors. Most is undertaken by unqualified staff. The “big” players are largely licensed conveyancers. The price has been driven down to unsustainable levels. The perceived value of conveyancing is very low (you only have to compare Estate Agents’ fees with those charged for conveyancing to get the picture).

Unlike 20 yrs ago the market for conveyancing is not controlled by Solicitors. Instead it is controlled by those who arrange the finance for property transactions – that is the mortgage lenders and (until the credit crunch) mortgage brokers – or those who introduce the parties to the underlying transaction (estate agents).

Conveyancing is now seen as a de-skilled “process”. This is largely due to the impact of the Registration of Title. Furthermore, I suspect that if pressed the public would say that it views conveyancing with antipathy – it might well be categorised as an inconvenience that gets in the way of a transaction that the parties have set their hearts on.

If the summary set out above is correct then the future of conveyancing is in the hands of the financial sector. At present it is tolerated by that sector. Why is this? In essence the conveyancer provides the Lender with a free copper bottomed and insurance backed Certificate of Title. If something goes wrong the Lender sues the Conveyancer who is backed by compulsory professional indemnity insurance. Those of us who have been qualified for long enough have now seen three “boom and bust” cycles in the property market each one bigger than its predecessor. Each time we have had the toxic combination of run away house prices, relaxed lending criteria and sloppy cut-price conveyancing. In a rising market with lots of churn people can get away with it but when the tide eventually goes out a fair number are always exposed…..these tend to be the hapless Conveyancers to whom Lenders then turn to effect a recovery and, by extension, their Professional Indemnity Insurers.

Twenty years ago Lenders had the double safety net of the Conveyancers PI cover and separate Mortgage Indemnity Guarantee (MIG) cover. After the first of the three busts MIG ceased to be underwritten routinely – the Insurers had had their fingers burned. The Court of Appeal initially hammered errant conveyancing solicitors with gusto but then woke up to the fact that the Solicitors Indemnity Fund was on the verge of insolvency and started circumscribing the duties implicitly owed to Lenders. We then had the Lenders’ Handbook as an attempt to codify the limits of the conveyancers retainer with and obligations owed to Lenders.

The latest mother of all busts would appear to be the final straw for Conveyancing. Certainly the SRA seems to think so. Just look at the latest consultation on client protection , not only do we have the suggestion that conveyancing as an activity should be separately insured but that protection for financial institutions should be written out of the minimum terms. It would appear that the PI insurers are no longer prepared to pick up the tab for property busts and the SRA seems to have decided that conveyancing is no longer a core activity for the solicitors profession and that the resources required to police it might be better focused elsewhere. The Law Society on the other hand in a last ditch attempt to save conveyancing for the profession has come up with the Quality Conveyancing Scheme. Maybe this will put off the evil day until the next inevitable boom and bust? Or will it?

I was talking the other day to a gentleman at a firm which specialises in developing new Insurance products for the Property Sector. With a background at First Title he is used to insuring risks around title. When it comes to Registered Titles he envisions a situation where all the Conveyancer does is check the terms of the sale contract and perform money laundering due diligence. A team of underwriters gets Office Copies of the Register and decides whether or not to issue an insurance backed certificate of title. As he observes, all the Lender really wants is to nail down its risks on title. These risks can be insured away.

It seems to me that risks around the personal covenant will likely be more controlled after the FSA Mortgager Market Review. Put together both components and you can start building mortgage portfolios where the underlying quality of the loans is of a suitable provenance for securitisation. Securitisation is the key for attracting more finance to the property market from off balance sheet lenders and others (there are rumours of the likes of Tesco and Sainsbury eyeing up the mortgage market). Securitisation allows the origination of loans which are then pooled and sliced and diced into bonds. Ultimately, this is the key to restoring volumes and underpinning house prices…..an attractive scenario which would play well to both politicians and a wider public. I suspect that neither are likely to allow conveyancing as a process to get in the way.

Note- the opinions expressed herein are the writer’s alone rather than those of the Wolverhampton Law Society.