The 1st of April saw the launch of the seventh version of the SRA Handbook. The new version contains a number of important changes, not least in relation to referral fees.

Full details of the changes can be found on the SRA web site, and in particular in the handbook itself. However, in brief they include:

• Amendemts to the SRA Code of Conduct and Glossary to take account of the ban on referral fees in personal injury cases;
• The removal of some unnecessary regulations and the simplification of some processes as part of the SRA’s “Red Tape Initiative”. These mainly involve changes to SRA Authorisation Rules, SRA Practice Framework Rules, SRA Practising Regulations, SRA Training Regulations and the SRA Glossary;
• Changes to take account of the fact that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) have now became the statutory regulators of financial services business in place of the Financial Services Authority (FSA);

Further details of the changes can be found on the SRA web site at www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/handbook/release-notes/release-notes-v7.page