A fifth of law firms fail on money laundering compliance due to not having a required risk assessment, a review from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has found.

As a result, 7,000 firms will be checked for compliance and there will be strong action taken against those who still fall short.

In March, the SRA wrote to 400 firms asking them to demonstrate compliance with the 2017 Money Laundering Regulations by sending their firms’ risk assessments. 400 responses were received, but 21 percent were not compliant. They either did not address all the risk areas required, or they sent over something other than a fir...