Legal And Compliance

Morton Fraser LLP

Morton Fraser MacRoberts LLP, referred to as MFMac LLP, is a limited liability partnership registered in Scotland.

Our registration number is SO300472 and our registered office is at: Quartermile Two, 2 Lister Square, Edinburgh, EH3 9GL.

Our VAT registration number is GB269 1293 36.

For Scottish work, we are regulated by The Law Society of Scotland.

For English work, we are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority with Register number 500043

We are also authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our Financial Services Register number is 428563

Professional indemnity insurance details

Morton Fraser MacRoberts LLP holds professional indemnity insurance under the Law Society of Scotland's compulsory Master Policy. The cover is provided by a panel of insurers, the lead insurer being Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance plc. RSA's address is 191 West George Street, Glasgow, G2 2LD. 

For English work, Morton Fraser MacRoberts LLP holds Qualifying Insurance cover as required by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. This cover is provided entirely by Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance plc, based at the address above. 

We also hold Top Up professional indemnity insurance over and above the minimum amount specified by our regulatory bodies. If you would like details of these insurers, please contact us.

The territorial coverage of our professional indemnity insurance is worldwide.

Complaints handling

Morton Fraser MacRoberts LLP is committed to providing a high quality legal service. Despite the efforts we make, we know that mistakes can sometimes happen. If you're unhappy, we would like to hear from you, so we can improve our service and standards. We also want to help to try and put things right. Our complaints process explains what you can do and who you should contact if you have any concerns

We have four complaints procedures depending on the work.

Anti money laundering statement 

Morton Fraser MacRoberts LLP is fully committed to fulfilling our obligations in the detection and prevention of money laundering, terrorist financing and other forms of financial crime. We carry out client due diligence measures when clients are taken on, including assessing the risk profile of clients and their matters, and we monitor their risk on an ongoing basis.  We have policies and procedures and train our staff to prevent the use of the firm for money laundering, including reporting suspicion of money laundering to the authorities.  We may decline to act or continue acting at any time if we have concerns.

Anti-bribery and corruption 

Morton Fraser MacRoberts LLP is committed to the highest standards of professional behaviour in our business. We will not accept any form of bribery or corruption. We will be happy to send you a copy of our full anti-bribery and corruption policy if you want to see it.

FATCA

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is part of a larger piece of legislation introduced in the United States in 2010 to ensure that that country’s citizens are fully disclosing their worldwide income to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). As a result of the UK-US intergovernmental agreement (IGA), the legislation is now part of UK law through Section 222 of the Finance Act 2013 and the regulations issued under that section. There are consequences for default – both financial and reputational. 

If you are a US citizen in terms of FATCA, you must provide us with further details in respect of the determination and / or confirmation of your status by use of other US indicia, unless the documentation and information you provide us under the Anti Money Laundering provisions is already sufficient to determine your status. 

You also need to provide us with details of any US connections and / or relatives that you may have from time-to-time, because this may be relevant for FATCA purposes. You must promptly notify us of any change in your status as a US person and any changes in your US connections.

If as part of the legal services we provide we are involved in the creation of an entity which is defined as a Financial Institution (FI) under FATCA (particularly in the case of trusts), you may have reporting obligations under FATCA. 

We may be legally required, and entitled, to share your FATCA status and registration details with financial institutions and/or to submit reports to HMRC.

Notice of right to cancel

Under the Consumer Contract (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) regulations 2013, private clients have a 14-day period in which to change their mind and cancel their contract for legal services.

When instructions are provided to us "off-premises", for example, at a client's home or workplace, a coffee shop, a police station, hospital, hospice or nursing home, or during a marketing event or excursion, we must issue a Notice of Right to Cancel, in addition to our standard Letter of Engagement and Terms of Business.

The firm has a standard Notice of Right to Cancel, which can be found here.

The Notice of Right to Cancel advises the client of the fact they have the right to cancel the contract for the provision of legal services within 14 days from the date of receipt of the contract (the date of the initial meeting with the client or the date of the Letter of Engagement, whichever is the later).

This situation does not apply to the following:

  • Financial services contracts (banking, credit, insurance, personal pension investment or other investments)
  • Creating or granting rights in immoveable property

Amiqus

Amiqus is a digital identity verification platform, which allows us to remotely obtain and check photo ID clients and other individuals. Amiqus provides a secure, online verification portal, which allows individuals to upload their ID, provide information and documents in their own time, from their own device in a place of their choosing, avoiding the need for certification or attending the office.