Explanatory Notes

Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010

2010 asp 16

9 November 2010

Commentary on Sections

Part 2 – Regulation of Licensed Legal Services

Chapter 2 – Licensed Legal Services Providers
Non-solicitor investors
Section 63 – Exemption from fitness test

141.Section 63 provides that an approved regulator is not required to satisfy itself as to the fitness of an investor where that investor is an “exemptible investor”. Investors are exemptible if they have less than a 10% stake in the ownership or control of a licensed provider. Licensing rules must explain the circumstances in which the approved regulator will apply an exemption and its reasons for so doing. The licensing rules must also explain any threshold for exemption that the approved regulator will apply which is lower than 10%.