Letter: Legal bodies fail to meet EU norms

IN THE Business section (12 December) Kristy Dorsey wrote of "the introduction of alternative business structures (ABS) in Scotland, which will allow legal firms to take on partners and investment from other regulated professionals such as accountants."

It is true that the Legal Services (Scotland) Act does require that a "51 per cent stake in the total ownership or control" of an ABS be held by solicitors and members of other regulated professions (an EU expression meaning profession practised under a specific title by holders of a specific qualification). But the other 49 per cent of ownership can be held by any person meeting a "fitness" requirement.

If the ABS had been limited to solicitors and "other regulated professionals" there would have been no issue of professional independence, no EU problem and probably less resistance to the change. As it is, the provisions fall well short of the European norms embodied in the EU Services Directive. This means (at least) that other EU states will not have to allow them to operate in or into their territories.

James McLean, Edinburgh