Rule 72 Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners

Rule 72 of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners (RPC) 2023 is about Education, training and awareness. It is under Part III (Risk Based Approach and Client Due Diligence) of Chapter 2 (Guidelines and Rules on Anti-money Laundering and Combating Financing of Terrorism for Legal Practitioners) of the Rules. It provides as follows:

(1) A legal practitioner shall make adequate resources available for training on anti-money laundering and terrorism financing, preventive measures for relevant staff in the law firm who may in the course of their duties, be exposed to these risks due to the services they render in the firm.

(2) Law firms or legal practitioners shall conduct training for their staff on AML and CFT, which shall qualify as continuing legal education, and the training may include group study where one member of staff outlines to other staff, relevant guidance, credible sources of information on legal sector risk or firm policies and provides regular email updates.

(3) Case studies, both fact-based and hypothetical may also be used in bringing the regulations to life and making them more comprehensible.

(4) In conducting these training, law firms or legal practitioners shall pay close attention to the scope of application of legal practitioner’s privilege and client confidentiality in relation to AML and CFT laws.

(5) The frequency, delivery mechanisms and focus of these training shall be at the sole discretion of the law firms or legal practitioners.

(6) Law firms or legal practitioners should review their own staff and available resources and implement training programs that provide appropriate AML and CFT information that is—
(a) tailored to the relevant staff responsibility, for example, client contact or administration ;
(b) at the appropriate level of detail, such as considering the nature of services provided by the legal practitioner ; and
(c) at a frequency suitable to the risk level of the type of work undertaken by the law firm or legal practitioner.