What's new
GRC for Law Firms
How to Be an Effective MLRO/MLCO (Course)
This course has been updated for 2026 and explores the roles of the Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) and Money Laundering Compliance Officer (MLCO) in law firms – defining their obligations and what it takes to carry them out effectively.
Drawing on current regulatory guidance and real enforcement cases, it delivers practical, role-specific guidance on AML best practice, including the implications of the planned transfer of AML supervision from the SRA to the FCA.
The course has been restructured to speak directly to practitioners in these roles, with bite-size video content, audio narration on key components, and scenario-based learning throughout. The assessment has also been substantially revised to test role-specific judgement rather than basic recall.
CPD: 0.5 hours
Monthly Compliance Update – April 2026 (Webinar)
On the first Thursday of each month, Brian Rogers hosts a 45-minute compliance update webinar for the legal profession. These sessions have proven very popular with our clients, attracting over 5,000 registrants for the live broadcast. These update webinars focus on current and upcoming events within the legal regulatory space and some of the topics covered in this edition were:
Mazur Update
LSB ethics expectations
A potential review of reserved legal activities
Consultant firm updates
Guidance on reporting non-serious issues.
Live broadcast date: 2 April 2026
CPD: 1 hour
AML Update - April 2026 (Webinar)
This quarterly webinar provides a focused update on changes to the AML and sanctions regimes. It is designed to keep practitioners up to date with developments in this fast-moving area of compliance. Key topics covered were:
OPBAS warns regulators they are not deterring non-compliance enough
AI deepfakes being used around CDD
Recent AML non-compliance fines
Enforcement under the FCA
Surge in crypto money laundering
Live broadcast date: 16 April 2026
CPD: 1 hour
On-demand recordings of these webinars are made available through our LMS. You can find these recordings, as well as other webinars, inside the 'Monthly Compliance Updates' catalogue. You can also register to attend the live sessions by registering here.
Policies and Precedents
Our subject matter experts have continued to apply updates to our AML policy suite.
Anti-Money Laundering
Money Laundering Internal Report Form (v1.4)
Updated to reflect the coverage of the bribery offence within the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA), which creates a dual AML/fraud screening purpose for internal reporting.
Inclusion of updated legislative and court case references.
New fields to reflect company and entity changes introduced under the ECCTA and the National Risk Assessment.
An enhanced MLRO section.
Non-UK Company/LLP - Request for Information (v2.0)
New table rows covering ECCTA provisions, the Register of Overseas Entities (ROE), corporate directors, FATF classification, PEPs, Persons with Significant Control (PSCs), sanctions, nature and purpose of business relationship, source of funds, source of wealth, and business activities.
Modifications to the introductory text and declaration sections.
A new footnote addressing the risk-based approach to beneficial ownership thresholds.
AML Employee Screening Policy (v2.5)
Updated to reflect the ECCTA 2023 failure-to-prevent fraud offence, which came into force on 1 September 2025. The offence creates a dual purpose for employee AML screening, encompassing both money laundering and fraud risk.
Adds legislative references across a range of sources, including the Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs), LSAG guidance, DBS, FCA, and the National Risk Assessment.
Retirements
The following content has now been retired and will no longer be found in their respective libraries.
GRC for Law Firms library – Webinars:
Monthly Compliance Update - April 2025
AML Update Webinar - April 2025
How will this be made available?
This release will be made available to all GRC for Law Firms and Policies & Precedents for Law Firms subscribers on April 30th 2026.
Please note, if you are a client utilising our ContentServe solution you will need to download the latest Pathways into your LMS.
Bug Fixes
The following fixes have been made to content in the Access Legal Learning libraries since the March 2026 release.
CQS Conveyancing Practice 2026
[01/04/2026] Updated content covering electronic execution methods, including Mercury signing and Conveyancer Certified Electronic Signatures (CES), to more accurately reflect how these methods are used in practice and align with Land Registry Practice Guide 82.
[27/04/2026] Updated an assessment question on Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) and First Time Buyer relief to include purchasing through a limited company as a disqualifying factor.
PEPs and Sanctions
[01/04/2026] Reworded a knowledge check question on identifying PEP family members to better reflect the risk-based approach set out in current FCA guidance, including nuance around UK (domestic) PEPs and wider family relationships.
Sexual Harassment
[01/04/2026] Updated guidance on advising a junior colleague being harassed by their manager to reflect best practice – recommending that the matter be reported through appropriate formal channels rather than by approaching the manager directly.
[01/04/2026] Updated an assessment question on examples of sexual harassment to ensure all answer options correctly reflect conduct of a sexual nature under the Equality Act 2010.
Whistleblowing Policy
[23/04/2026] Replaced the version of the Whistleblowing Policy that had been published with tracked changes visible. The correct clean version (v2.3) is now live.
What’s coming?
In our next release, scheduled for May 28th 2026, we're proud to be working with Professor Stephen Mayson in our fully redesigned Ethics for Legal Practice course.
Policies and Precedents Library Update
We are currently undertaking a full realignment of our template policy library for law firms in England and Wales. Policies are being restructured into a consistent format with a clear focus on obligations, procedures and the regulatory framework that underpins them.
Updated policies are being released on a rolling basis through 2026. Where a policy has been updated, the version number and review date will reflect the current release. Firms should replace earlier versions on issue. Questions about specific policies or the update programme can be directed to your usual contact.
Note: An update to the Terms of Business template for Policies and Precedents customers will be applied in early May to reflect the new HMRC tax adviser registration requirements.
Note: From 19 June 2026, changes introduced by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 place a new statutory obligation on organisations to have a clear and effective process for handling data protection complaints. To help firms prepare, Access Legal will release a Data Protection Complaints Handling Procedure into our Policies and Precedents for Law Firms library.
We hope you enjoy this latest content release and if you have any queries, please take a look at our Access LMS Evo Help Centre.
If you would like to find out more information about our Legal Learning products or inquire on adding any of these products to your account you can find more information regarding this here.
Kind Regards
Access Legal Learning Team