UK Legal Notice
Legal and Regulatory Information
Mantle Law (UK) LLP (“we”, “us”, “our”, the “Firm”) is a limited liability partnership registered in England, with registered number OC437751, and which practices from Warnford Court, 29 Throgmorton Street, London, EC2N 2AT. A list of members is available for inspection at that address. The word “partner” denotes a member of the Firm or an employee or consultant with equivalent standing and qualifications.
Mantle Law (UK) LLP is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority of England (“SRA”) with the SRA number 824312. The SRA Standards & Regulations 2019 set out our professional and ethical rules and obligations (including the SRA Codes of Conduct and SRA Accounts Rules) and can be viewed at www.sra.org.uk.
Our affiliated firm, Mantle Law Ltd, which trades from offices in the Abu Dhabi Global Market of the United Arab Emirates is a separate and distinct legal entity which is subject to different regulatory requirements in that jurisdiction.
We have set out below some additional information which we are obliged to provide to clients (as provided for in our standard Terms of Business).
Professional Indemnity Insurance
Pursuant to the disclosure requirements of the Provision of Services Regulations 2009, our primary layer professional indemnity insurer is Travelers Insurance Company Ltd.
Anti-money laundering
We may require clients to provide documents and information concerning the contracting client entity and related persons, entities or affiliates as set out, in order to comply with relevant anti-money laundering laws and regulations. We may be prevented from carrying out your instructions if we are unable to meet our requirements, which often include verifying the identities of your ultimate beneficial owners.
Where we have reasonable evidence to know or suspect that a transaction involves criminal proceeds, we may be required by law to make a disclosure of otherwise confidential information to the National Crime Agency. In this event, and where we have determined that is necessary to make a disclosure, we may not be able to inform you that a disclosure has been made or the reasons for it, and we may in such circumstances have to cease acting for you. We will tell you about any potential money laundering problem and explain what actions we may need to take but only where the law permits us to do so. We shall have no liability to you in relation to our duties to comply with such legislation.
Anti-bribery and corruption
It is our policy to always act in accordance with the highest professional, ethical and business standards, and we expect the same from our clients and their related persons, entities or affiliates. We have a zero-tolerance approach to bribery or corruption and you agree not to expect or request any conduct from us that might bring our name into disrepute or compromise our integrity and independence and that you or your related persons, entities or affiliates will refrain from any practices involving bribery or any other corrupt activities.
Client audit and reference requests
Whilst we are not obliged to, we may at our discretion, respond to reasonable requests for information from a corporate client’s auditors if the directors of the company authorise us in writing to do so.
Any response we provide will be in accordance with the Law Society’s guidelines for dealing with audit letters. We will confirm the amount of any costs and expenses which are due to us, whether we are holding documents and, if so, whether they are held by us as security for our own costs. Non-specific enquires as to our awareness or otherwise of contingent liabilities or litigation or breach or potential breach of regulations and rules relating to the client’s business will not be answered. Where the directors have in writing estimated the amount of such liabilities on a specific matter in respect of which we are instructed, we may be prepared to comment upon the directors’ estimate if the directors so request. The time we spend responding to an audit letter will be charged at the appropriate hourly rate. We do not provide bank or other references.
Financial Services and Markets Act 2000
The advice which we provide is confined to legal advice. We do not advise on the merits of financial products or investment transactions and no communication from us should be treated as an invitation for you to engage in regulated investment activity of any description.
Some investment-related activities (including insurance distribution activities) of Mantle Law (UK) LLP are regulated under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 of the United Kingdom (“FSMA”).
Like most law firms, we are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”) under FSMA. Instead, we are authorised and regulated by the SRA. The Law Society is a designated professional body for the purposes of FSMA, but responsibility for regulation and complaints handling has been separated from the Law Society’s representative functions. The SRA is the independent regulatory body of the Law Society and the Legal Ombudsman deals with complaints about lawyers registered in England and Wales. In the light of this, we can provide investment-related services (including insurance distribution activities) if they are an incidental part of the professional services we have been engaged to provide, if they can reasonably be regarded as a necessary part of our professional services or if we are otherwise permitted to provide them under FSMA. For the purpose of insurance distribution activities (broadly, advising on, selling and the administration of insurance contracts), we are included on a register maintained by the FCA and are permitted by the FCA to carry on insurance distribution activities. This register can be accessed via the FCA website at www.fca.org.uk/register.
Managing complaints
If you wish to make a complaint about us then, in the first instance, please contact the person with whom you are working or corresponding to set out your concerns. We will do our best to resolve any issues at this stage and, if applicable, will confirm our complaints handling procedure in writing (which is available to clients at any time on request).
If you are not satisfied with our attempt to handle and resolve matters, you may be able to ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the issue – write to:
If you do wish to refer a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, it should be done within six months of our final response to your complaint and within one year of the act or omission that caused the complaint or, if outside this period, within one year of when you should reasonably have known about the relevant act or omission.
The Legal Ombudsman may refer your complaint to the SRA if they are not the correct body to consider the matter, as the Legal Ombudsman’s services are only available for certain types of complaints and complainants. Further details can be found on the Legal Ombudsman’s website and on the SRA’s website.
Note also that if you are a client and your complaint is about our invoices, you may also apply to the court for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors’ Act 1974. If all or part of any bill remains unpaid, we may be entitled to charge interest.
