The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has fined a regulated solicitor for acting for two clients on both sides of a property exchange.
The SRA said there was a “conflict” of the clients’ interests when Stephen Vasey, partner at Walters and Plaskitt Solicitors, acted on behalf of both clients where one relinquished the ownership of their property to the other.
The regulator said Vasey did “not have instructions from the client relinquishing their beneficial ownership and did not ensure the service he provided was competent”. The SRA also said he did not consider the individual “needs, attributes and circumstances” of his clients.
Vasey was fined 16% of his gross annual income, and a 5% discount was applied because he cooperated with the SRA investigation.
In total, he paid a financial penalty of £1,198 and costs of £1,350.
The SRA said: “It was decided that a financial penalty was an appropriate and proportionate sanction. The conduct was not found to be reckless but had the potential to cause significant loss and had a significant impact on the client. Mr Vasey had direct control and responsibility for the conduct.
“A financial penalty is appropriate because any lesser sanction would not be appropriate; to send a signal to those we regulate more widely with the aim of preventing similar behaviour by others; and some public sanction is required to uphold public confidence in the delivery of legal services.”
The regulator said no aggravating factors were found.
Shekina is the deputy editor at Mortgage Solutions and commercial editor at Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions. She has nearly eight years of experience in the B2B publishing market, having previously covered the hospitality, retail, pet, accounting and jewellery sectors.
Shekina has worked for Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions for almost five years. Here, she covers the market’s breaking news stories, engages with professionals in the sector, and oversees any commercially agreed content in partnership with mortgage-related companies.
This includes presenting webinars and hosting roundtable discussions on developing themes in the mortgage sector.
She is an NCTJ-trained journalist and was nominated for the Headline Money Awards Mortgage Journalist of the Year in 2021.
In her spare time, Shekina likes to read, travel, listen to music and socialise with friends.
She currently reports on current events in the mortgage market and liaises with financial clients to produce sponsored content.
Follow her on Twitter at @ShekinaMS
