RPBs keep up pressure on super-SIB

The Law Society will meet a treasury official later this week to discuss the proposed regulatory framework for registered professional bodies (RPBs).

Law Society head of professional ethics Alison Crawley said the decision would ultimately be political but thought that there would be room for RPBs to operate. She said the society had written to outgoing Securities and Investments Board chair Sir Andrew Large and was waiting for his blueprint report.

She said the way the new Act was drafted would be crucial and added that RPBs may still have a function, although there may be a threshold, with those firms above it being directly regulated.

Observers were encouraged by remarks made by Treasury minister Helen Liddell, saying she had an open mind about RPBs retaining their powers.

Sifa chair Ian Muirhead said: "The Law Society has played a good hand in this area and there is every reason to hope it will retain its powers."