Amir Nazir Butt

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

Amir Nazir Butt, a sole practitioner trading as ANB Law, admitted three allegations: AML compliance failures (no FWRA, risk assessments, policies or training), a false/misleading declaration to the SRA in January 2020 about having a compliant FWRA, and failure to return client money promptly between 2014 and 2022. The Tribunal found all allegations proved and found a lack of integrity (not dishonesty). Conduct was assessed as very serious/high culpability with medium harm. The Tribunal imposed a fine of £35,000 (Level 4) plus three years of conditions (half-yearly accounts, yearly FWRA/AML/training submissions, and Lexcel accreditation by end 2025), and ordered costs of £28,000.

Duties found breached:

• No improper use of client money
• Firm governance, systems and compliance
• No baseless or threatened misconduct report

Aggravating factors:

• Experienced solicitor in a position of higher authority (President of regional Law Society branch) expected to set an example
• Deficiencies indicated in unqualified accountants' reports from 2015 yet left unaddressed for years
• Lack of integrity in misleading his regulator
• Lack of insight into importance of returning client balances promptly

Mitigating factors:

• Otherwise excellent 20-year record with no previous disciplinary matters
• Full cooperation with the investigation and full admission of all allegations
• Remedial action taken including AML training and written procedures
• Issues affected less than 0.2% of files
• No evidence of harm to clients from dishonesty, no financial benefit, no deficit on client account
• Expressed remorse