Digital Assets and AML - Advanced Guide to Legal and Regulatory Compliance for Lawyers

Introduction and Context

• Welcome, objectives, and assumptions of basic crypto/blockchain knowledge
• Overview of digital assets' growth in banking, financial services, and the legal profession
• Dual lens: innovation opportunities vs. escalating AML/fraud risks for UK solicitors in 2026

Core Technologies and Their Legal Implications

• Smart contracts: mechanics, enforceability, and use cases in legal transactions
• Non-fungible tokens (NFTs): ownership, provenance, and emerging applications in law tech
• Digital signatures: legal validity under UK law, integration with blockchain for trustworthiness
• Blockchain fundamentals revisited: how distributed ledgers enhance (or challenge) trust, immutability, and verification in professional services

AML and Fraud Risks in the Digital Asset Ecosystem

• Why digital assets attract money laundering: pseudonymity, speed, cross-border nature, and tools like mixers or privacy protocols
• Key typologies relevant to lawyers: client use of crypto for payments, source-of-wealth concealment, fraud via scams/NFT wash trading, and sanctions evasion
• SRA-specific warnings: heightened scrutiny on crypto involvement, opaque origins, unregulated exchanges, and volatility as red flags in client matters

 Compliance Obligations Tailored for Legal Practitioners

• Enhanced due diligence: adapted KYC/CDD for crypto clients, wallets, and transactions.
  Source of wealth and funds verification: practical challenges with digital assets and evidence requirements
• Transaction monitoring and risk profiling: spotting suspicious patterns in on-chain activity relevant to legal advice or client onboarding
• Suspicious activity reporting (SARs): when and how to report crypto-related suspicions under UK MLRs, with SRA expectations

Regulatory Landscape and Forward-Looking Considerations

• Current UK position: SRA guidance, MLRs application to solicitors handling digital assets, and interplay with broader frameworks
• International developments and UK impact: FATF standards, EU approaches, and emerging trends from other jurisdictions/sectors
• Opportunities for innovation: compliant use of blockchain, smart contracts, and law tech tools in client work while managing professional conduct risks

Interactive Scenarios, Case Studies, and Q&A

• Real-world examples from banking/financial services and legal practice (drawn from the trainer's expertise and global trends)
• Group discussion or hypotheticals: applying concepts to solicitor scenarios (e.g., accepting crypto fees, advising on NFT disputes, or conducting due diligence on crypto-heavy clients)
• Best practices for firm-wide AML policies, controls, and procedures in a digital asset context
• Open floor for questions, emerging 2026 risks, and practical takeaways

This schedule gives a balanced, engaging flow: starting with technology, moving into risks and compliance for regulatory focus, and ending with actionable, interactive application.

Redcliffe’s course trainer has over a decade of experience advising clients on data protection and founded Digital Law in 2014 to offer legal and compliance guidance to organisations operating in the digital space. The trainer works with clients across the UK, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Asia, and the United States on data protection, GDPR and cyber security compliance, along with e-commerce, website compliance, software licensing, AI, blockchain, privacy, and Freedom of Information Act matters. The trainer has advised clients in the creative, digital, and retail sectors, as well as working with clients in the banking, insurance, and financial services sectors who are engaged in the supply of goods and services using digital technology.

He is co-author of the Cyber Security Toolkit for The Law Society of England and Wales, a practical compliance guide for law firms, and is also co-author of a GDPR practical compliance manual for law firms. He regularly speaks at conferences and presents webinars and podcasts for various organisations. A regular international speaker, he has presented at LegalTechTalk, Nordic Privacy Arena, European Legal Security Forum, Lawyer2050 Conference, Legal Geek, and British Legal Technology Forum. He also produces the Digital Law Podcast.

The trainer is a member of the Expert Advisory Board for the Security, Privacy, Identity, Trust and Engagement Network Plus (SPRITE+) and is a past Chair of the GDPR Working Group of The Law Society of England and Wales. He is also a past Chair of the Law Society’s Technology and Law Committee.

Digital assets present both a challenge and an opportunity to innovate for lawyers.

This live and interactive session will cover the following:

• Smart contracts
• Non-fungible tokens (NFTs)
• Money laundering and fraud risks
• Digital signatures
• Block chain and trustworthiness
• Sources of wealth and suspicious activity reporting
• Transaction monitoring, KYC and AML risk profiling

Redcliffe’s expert speaker will examine how these systems are being used with real-world examples from across the world of banking and financial services as well as looking at their application within the legal profession and some of the innovations within the law tech field.

Consideration will be given to some of the risks highlighted by regulators including the SRA and how innovation taking place in other jurisdictions and sectors may impact the UK in the near term.

This session is aimed at private practice and in-house lawyers and those monitoring compliance from a finance perspective. A basic knowledge of cryptocurrency, blockchain and their general use is assumed.
 
This course is an absolute must absolute must for:

• Private practice solicitors advising on corporate, banking, fintech, or commercial matters involving digital assets, cryptocurrencies, or blockchain-based transactions
• In-house counsel responsible for legal, compliance, or risk management matters where clients or internal teams deal with crypto, NFTs, or smart contracts
• Compliance and finance professionals in law firms or legal departments monitoring AML, KYC, or transaction risk for digital asset activity
• Practice managers and partners overseeing firm-wide policies on client onboarding, AML controls, and regulatory reporting related to digital assets
• Legal professionals dealing with innovation in law tech, including smart contracts, blockchain applications, or digital signature workflows
• Solicitors and teams advising cross-border clients where international digital asset regulations (FATF, EU trends) may impact UK practice

The Digital Assets and Anti-Money Laundering course delivers targeted, practitioner-focused training for UK solicitors, in-house counsel, and finance/compliance professionals in legal settings who already possess a foundational understanding of cryptocurrency and blockchain basics.

The course is led by an experienced digital legal issues trainer and bridges emerging technologies with the stringent compliance demands placed on legal practitioners under UK regulations. Drawing on the trainer’s extensive expertise in data protection, cybersecurity, and regulatory guidance (including contributions to Law Society initiatives), the course examines how distributed ledger technologies, cryptocurrencies, and related innovations are reshaping financial and legal services.

It uniquely emphasizes the dual nature of digital assets as both drivers of innovation - through applications like smart contracts, NFTs, and blockchain-enhanced trustworthiness - and sources of heightened risks such as money laundering, fraud, and regulatory scrutiny.

Participants explore practical implications for the legal profession, including heightened obligations around client due diligence, source-of-wealth verification, suspicious activity reporting, transaction oversight, and tailored AML risk assessments when dealing with digital asset transactions or clients.

A key differentiator is the course's sharp focus on SRA-highlighted risks and the potential spill over effects of international developments into the UK legal environment. This ensures solicitors can proactively address professional conduct requirements while identifying opportunities to leverage these technologies compliantly within law firms and client advisory work.

The course provides actionable insights through real-world examples from banking, financial services, and law tech—empowering participants to navigate this fast-evolving space with confidence and regulatory awareness in 2026 and beyond.