List five specified activities that might be involved in investment-related trust work.

What difference would it make to the ability of your firm to advise the client if one of the partners was one of Mr Jenkins’ executors and trustees?

You work for Hester & Co Solicitors, a small firm specialising in matrimonial finance and divorce proceedings. The firm recently acted for Mrs Gmerek following the breakdown of her three-year marriage to Mr Gmerek.  As part of this instruction, you obtained a financial settlement on behalf of Mrs Gmerek, which included a lump sum of £50,000 in addition to having the former matrimonial home transferred into her sole name. There is a small mortgage outstanding on the property.  Mrs Gmerek has a full-time job working for a local charity earning £30,000 per annum.  She has an eight-year-old son from a previous relationship, who lives with her full-time.  She has no contact with or financial support from the father. Mrs Gmerek has no investments or savings other than about £2,000 that she paid into a cash ISA with Clackshire Building Society some years ago.  She has previously given no thought to a pension (although has recently been enrolled in her employer’s workplace scheme). She would like some investment advice as to what she should do with the £50,000 she has received and in relation to her financial planning more generally. If Mrs Gmerek was a new client when you acted on the divorce, what should have been the first thing you asked to see before accepting the instruction and why?

If a firm’s Money Laundering Reporting Officer (“MLRO”) fails to report their suspicions of money laundering to the National Crime Agency (“the NCA”), they may be committing an offence punishable by:

Explain to the trustees the differences between Investment Trusts and Unit Trusts and how this will impact upon the estate.

What do you need to consider in deciding whether you can recommend or arrange the disposal of the units in the Unit Trusts under the Scope Rules?

Assuming that the firm is authorised by the body you have stated in your answer to Question 25, list six investment considerations or objectives that you would need to consider with the client.

Which of the following is a specified investment under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 (“the RAO”)?

Given Mrs Gmerek’s circumstances as you understand them, what protection needs do you identify for her and what products might you suggest to address these needs?

A solicitor who knowingly accepts criminal property on to the firm’s client account is at risk of committing an offence under which of the following provisions?