SRA Handbook

The register of authorised bodies

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Rule 34: The register of authorised bodies

34.1

The SRA must keep a register of all authorised bodies authorised by the SRA, which may be kept in electronic form.

34.2

The register must contain, for each authorised body:

(a)

the name and number under which the body is authorised;

(b)

whether the authorised body is a recognised body or a licensed body;

(c)

any other practising styles used by the body;

(d)

the authorised body's registered office and registered number, if it is an LLP or company;

(e)

the authorised body's main practising address in England and Wales;

(f)

all the authorised body's other practising addresses;

(g)

whether the authorised body is a partnership, an LLP or a company;

(h)

if the authorised body is a company, whether it is:

(i)

a company limited by shares;

(ii)

a company limited by guarantee;

(iii)

an unlimited company;

(iv)

an overseas company registered in England and Wales;

(v)

an overseas company registered in Scotland;

(vi)

an overseas company registered in Northern Ireland; or

(vii)

a societas Europaea;

(i)

a list of the authorised body's managers, and in respect of each manager, whether that manager is:

(i)

a lawyer of England and Wales, and if so the nature of his or her qualification;

(ii)

an REL, and if so his or her professional title and jurisdiction of qualification;

(iii)

an EEL registered with the BSB, and if so his or her professional title and jurisdiction of qualification;

(iv)

an EEL based entirely at an office or offices outside England and Wales, and if so his or her professional title and jurisdiction of qualification;

(v)

an RFL, and if so his or her professional title and jurisdiction of qualification;

(vi)

any other individual approved under Part 4;

(vii)

a company approved under Part 4, and if so whether it is a licensed body, a recognised body, a European corporate practice or an authorised non-SRA firm;

(viii)

an LLP approved under Part 4, and if so whether it is a licensed body, a recognised body, a European corporate practice or an authorised non-SRA firm; or

(ix)

a partnership with separate legal personality approved under Part 4, and if so whether it is a licensed body, a recognised body, a European corporate practice or an authorised non-SRA firm;

(j)

the name of the individual who is the firm's COLP, and the name of the approved regulator which authorises that individual as an authorised person;

(k)

the name of the individual who is the firm's COFA;

(l)

any condition to which the body's authorisation is subject;

(m)

if the authorised body's authorisation is for the time being suspended, a note to state that fact; and

(n)

any other information considered necessary by the SRA for carrying out its statutory functions in the public interest, as may from time to time be prescribed.

34.3

Public information

(a)

Entries in the register must be available for inspection by any member of the public except that the SRA may withhold a recognised body's address in exceptional circumstances where the SRA considers that to do so would be in the public interest.

(b)

The date on which, and the circumstances in which, an authorised body's authorisation expired or was revoked must be made available to a member of the public on request.