Royal Bank of Scotland Conveyancing Panel Information

We only know of a couple of banks that operate a separate conveyancing panel where the mortgage advance is over a certain amount. You should nevertheless check directly with Royal Bank of Scotland. At one stage HSBC would only allow Sole practitioners to act for them where the mortgage was below £150,000. We are not sure if HSBC still operate such a condition. In your case it is best to check with Royal Bank of Scotland

As is the case with the Law Society the CLC has begun dialogue with lenders and their representative bodies to see whether and how the risks that lenders wish to mitigate could be addressed through the regulatory framework rather than via ad hoc arrangements that can differ from lender to lender. We expect that that the CLC have been in touch with lenders such as Royal Bank of Scotland since 2008 which is when lenders started being more restrictive.

What you should do largely depends on the reason that your firm has been removed off the Royal Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel. The top 3 reasons are as follows:

1. lack of transactions
2. the lawyer is a sole practitioner
3. as part of the HSBC panel reduction.

In these three circumstances it is unlikely that you would expected to take any action. Disclosure and other compliance considerations are more likely to be relevant if the reason for removal is due to breaches of lender requirements or allegations of fraud or negligence. Whether the reasoning should trigger a disclosable 'material' breach will depend on the firm and the circumstances around possible failures to comply with the SRA Authorisation Rules, and the SRA will judge each case on its own merits. Factors such as the detriment or risk of detriment to clients, the scale of the issue and overall impact on the firm will need to be considered in deciding whether a failure is 'material'. As the COLP you will need systems to identify patterns of breaches. Even if you don't consider there to be regulatory implications the firms COFA should give some thought to whether she/he needs to take any action as result of being removed from the Royal Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel.

During 2013, 227 sections of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook P2 were changed by Royal Bank of Scotland. Some changes are more important than others but as a firm on the Royal Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel you are of course obliged to comply with individual lender requirements, as set out in Part II of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. Locktons have recently pointed out in an article that non-compliance with Part 2 requirements account for a number of high value claims, and it is therefore important to be aware of any particularly onerous terms that an individual lender may impose.

Remember: CML requirements are not guidelines; they are the lender client’s instructions.

CQS accreditation gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a prerequisite for firms wishing to remain on their approved list of conveyancing solicitors. Some mortgage companies now use CQS as the starting point for Panel membership as is the case with HSBC.

You would be advised to contact Royal Bank of Scotland to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook has an explicit inquiry for banks to cite who to contact to obtain standard documents. Royal Bank of Scotland in their Part 2’s state: It helps to quote your Royal Bank of Scotland solicitors panel reference.