Taskforce on business ethics and the legal profession: exploring the ethics of representing the beneficiaries of kleptocracy and grand corruption

Lawyers have been characterised as a keystone in the architecture of professional services providers who enable grand corruption and kleptocracy to take place. A multistakeholder Taskforce on Business Ethics and the Legal Profession was created to address concern from law-makers, regulators, the media, civil society and within the profession about the role played by solicitors in England & Wales, and particularly firms in the City of London. The Taskforce examined the question of how such firms reach decisions about client take-on in cases when those clients are not caught by the existing Anti-Money Laundering (AML) laws and regulations, but nevertheless have unexplained wealth. This places the emphasis on firms’ approaches to professional ethics rather than AML compliance. The Taskforce undertook extensive consultations, which helped identify three specific areas in which progress could be made: the purpose and role of the profession; law firm policies and procedures for client take-on; and law firm transparency, accountability and culture. The article concludes with six broad themes that need to be addressed by self-regulation, regulation or legislation, with profession-led change as the proposed initial route.