The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has proposed a new series of measures for the regulation of UK law firms' international activities.

The SRA launched a consultation process yesterday (8 November) to gauge the profession's views on how to regulate international practice under the new outcomes-focused regulatory regime.

The proposals include allowing overseas branches of foreign law firms – which currently have to register and comply separately with SRA regulations – to fall under a single international firm 'passport to practice'.

If implemented, foreign firms would be able to choose to have the SRA as its lead regulator outside of England and Wales, provided that it has an operation in either country.

SRA chief executive Antony Townsend (pictured) said: "Our proposals will help support the further development of England and Wales as a hub for global legal services.

"Foreign law firms with offices in England and Wales – mostly large US ones – would find their regulatory burdens reduced where they have branch offices or partners in other countries that are linked by a corporate structure to their headquarters in this jurisdiction."

The SRA is also set to replace the Registered Foreign Lawyers (RFL) scheme to give it a greater focus on individual suitability and greater flexibility in terms of who can work in partnership with solicitors.

The consultation, which closes on 15 February 2012, comes in the wake of the regulatory shift to outcomes-focused regulation, replacing the prescriptive rules-based regulation in place to date.

Click here for the consultation on the regulation of international practice.