Digital Assets and AML - Advanced Guide to Legal and Regulatory Compliance for Lawyers

Introduction and Context

• Digital assets training begins with a warm welcome, course objectives, and assumptions of basic crypto/blockchain knowledge

• Overview of digital assets' growth in banking, financial services, and the legal profession

• Dual lens: innovation opportunities vs. escalating AML/fraud risks for UK solicitors in 2026

Core Technologies and Their Legal Implications

• Smart contracts: mechanics, enforceability, and use cases in legal transactions

• Non-fungible tokens (NFTs): ownership, provenance, and emerging applications in law tech

• Digital signatures: legal validity under UK law, integration with blockchain for trustworthiness

• Blockchain fundamentals revisited: how distributed ledgers enhance (or challenge) trust, immutability, and verification in professional services

AML and Fraud Risks in the Digital Asset Ecosystem

• Why digital assets attract money laundering: pseudonymity, speed, cross-border nature, and tools like mixers or privacy protocols

• Key typologies relevant to lawyers: client use of crypto for payments, source-of-wealth concealment, fraud via scams/NFT wash trading, and sanctions evasion

• SRA-specific warnings: heightened scrutiny on crypto involvement, opaque origins, unregulated exchanges, and volatility as red flags in client matters

Compliance Obligations Tailored for Legal Practitioners

• Enhanced due diligence: adapted KYC/CDD for crypto clients, wallets, and transactions. Source of wealth and funds verification: practical challenges with digital assets and evidence requirements

• Transaction monitoring and risk profiling: spotting suspicious patterns in on-chain activity relevant to legal advice or client onboarding

• Suspicious activity reporting (SARs): when and how to report crypto-related suspicions under UK MLRs, with SRA expectations, are covered in digital assets management training

Regulatory Landscape and Forward-Looking Considerations

• Current UK position: SRA guidance, MLRs application to solicitors handling digital assets, and interplay with broader frameworks

• International developments and UK impact: FATF standards, EU approaches, and emerging trends from other jurisdictions/sectors

• Opportunities for innovation: compliant use of blockchain, smart contracts, and law tech tools in client work while managing professional conduct risks

Interactive Scenarios, Case Studies, and Q&A

• Real-world examples from banking/financial services and legal practice (drawn from the trainer's expertise and global trends)

• Group discussion or hypotheticals: applying concepts to solicitor scenarios (e.g., accepting crypto fees, advising on NFT disputes, or conducting due diligence on crypto-heavy clients)

• Best practices for firm-wide AML policies, controls, and procedures in a digital asset context

• Open floor for questions, emerging 2026 risks, and practical takeaways

This digital asset course schedule offers a balanced, engaging flow: starting with technology, moving into risks and compliance for regulatory focus, and ending with an actionable, interactive application.

Training Objectives

Digital assets present both a challenge and an opportunity to innovate for lawyers.

Redcliffe’s live and interactive digital assets training covers the following:

• Smart contracts

• Non-fungible tokens (NFTs)

• Money laundering and fraud risks

• Digital signatures

• Blockchain and trustworthiness

• Sources of wealth and suspicious activity reporting

• Transaction monitoring, KYC and AML risk profiling

Redcliffe’s expert speaker examines how systems are being applied with real-world examples taken from banking and financial services. Training investigates applications within the legal profession and some of the innovations within the law tech field.

Consideration is given to some of the risks highlighted by regulators, including the SRA and how innovation taking place in other jurisdictions and sectors may impact the UK in the near term.

Training Course Summary

This course covers digital assets and anti-money laundering, including blockchain and NFTs, and wash trading. Sessions deliver targeted, practitioner-focused training for UK solicitors, in-house counsel, and finance and compliance professionals in legal settings who already have a foundational understanding of cryptocurrency and blockchain basics.

Training is led by an experienced digital legal issues specialist, bridging emerging technologies with the stringent compliance demands placed on legal practitioners under UK regulations. Drawing on the trainer’s extensive expertise in data protection, cybersecurity, and regulatory guidance (including contributions to Law Society initiatives), the course examines how distributed ledger technologies, cryptocurrencies, and related innovations are reshaping financial and legal services.

Training uniquely emphasises the dual nature of digital assets as both drivers of innovation - through applications like smart contracts, NFTs, and blockchain-enhanced trustworthiness - and sources of heightened risks such as money laundering, fraud, and regulatory scrutiny.

Participants explore practical implications for the legal profession, including heightened obligations around client due diligence, source-of-wealth verification, suspicious activity reporting, transaction oversight and tailored AML risk assessments when dealing with digital asset transactions or clients.

A key differentiator is the course's sharp focus on SRA-highlighted risks and the potential spill-over effects of international developments into the UK legal environment. This ensures solicitors can proactively address professional conduct requirements while identifying opportunities to leverage these technologies compliantly within law firms and client advisory work.

Digital assets training provides actionable insights through real-world examples from banking, financial services, and law tech—empowering participants to navigate this fast-evolving space with confidence and regulatory awareness in 2026 and beyond.