The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) board has approved the watchdog's application to become a licensing authority for alternative business structures (ABSs) today (15 March).

The board has also approved the final draft of the handbook on the new Solicitors Code of Conduct, which is due to be published next month (6 April) following consultation.

The SRA will now submit its application to become an ABS regulator to the Legal Services Board (LSB). However, it is still pending validation from the Law Society's policy-making council, which is set to vote on whether to approve the proposals on 23 March.

Should the Law Society council decide not to back the SRA's application, it is possible that the LSB could choose to directly regulate ABSs, which are set to be allowed to operate from 6 October this year.

The Code of Conduct reforms come amid a drive by the SRA to usher in 'outcomes focused regulation' a risk-based approach billed as emphasising principles rather than prescriptive rules. The body has billed the move as a core foundation of its efforts to reform its operations in light of the Legal Services Act, which is set to radically liberalise the legal market in the UK.

The handbook will apply to both traditional law firms and ABSs from 6 October, with law firms given six months to prepare for the implementation after the publication. The final handbook will clarify issues that were highlighted as unclear by law firms in the consultation.

As Legal Week reported this month, plans to usher in the new code have been met with resistance from City firms, which have complained that the new regime is unclear.

However, the SRA said that the final handbook will have clearer wording on conflicts regulation than the draft, with the watchdog stating that it is largely set to preserve its current position in the matter.

Meanwhile, the SRA has also clarified the new roles of a compliance officer legal practices (CoLP) and a compliance officer finance and administration (CoFA), which all law firms have to name by March next year. Law firms had expressed concern about the amount of liability the two roles would bear but the final handbook will state that these liabilities will continue to be shared with a law firm's management.

SRA chief executive Antony Townsend (pictured) commented: "The very good news with all of this is that it means that we are bang on schedule for the whole package of reform which is due to come into force in October. We are confident that our application to become a licensing authority is robust and should be approved by the Law Society council. Meanwhile, I think the profession will find that the wording of the handbook much clearer now [than in the draft version]."