Dennis Ko

Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision

Dennis Ko, a solicitor and matter partner at Kennedys Law LLP, admitted misconduct relating to the purchase and sale of units in the Grosvenor Hotel Bristol between December 2016 and September 2017. He failed to conduct adequate client due diligence and ongoing monitoring, causing the Firm to breach the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 and 2017, and acted in/authorised payments (up to £925,000 to Mr Varma, £10,000 to KD Law, and up to £133,500 to Casa Investments Ltd) in transactions bearing the hallmarks of fraud. The SRA withdrew the pleaded Principle 2 breaches and recklessness allegations. The matter was resolved by Agreed Outcome. The Tribunal assessed the misconduct as very serious (Indicative Fine Band Level 4) but not warranting interference with his ability to practise, and imposed a fine of £27,500 plus costs of £25,000.

Duties found breached:

• Act in the client's best interests
• No conflict between current clients
• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank
• Not misrepresent regulated status

Aggravating factors:

• Numerous failings that continued over a number of months
• Misconduct assessed as very serious
• Transactions bore the hallmarks of fraud

Mitigating factors:

• Extensive admissions made
• Resolved by Agreed Outcome