Many notary clients of the London practice of M D Pryke Notary Public will be familiar with Matthew Pryke as both a Notary Public and also a solicitor.  Matthew Pryke has also recently been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Fine & Country.  Matthew will commence his role as Chief Executive Officer on 10 October 2011 based from Fine & Country’s Park Lane offices in London, UK.

Fine & Country is a luxury estate brand which sell and market properties in the upper quartile of the estate agency market both in the UK and globally.  Fine & Country differentiate themselves by their innovative lifestyle marketing and by representing properties of bespoke character and individual distinction.  Fine & Country currently has more than 200 offices in the UK and more than 300 offices globally in countries such as Portugal, Cyprus, Guernsey, Jersey, Madeira, Malta, Mauritius, Dubai, Numbi, Qatar, South Africa and West Africa.  The most recent expansion has seen Fine & Country also begin operations within the USA.

Matthew Pryke, owner of M D Pryke Notary Public LLP says “I am absolutely delighted to have been appointed as CEO of Fine & Country.  Fine & Country is both a market leader and innovator within this estate agency sector.  The success of this business over the last 10 years provides a wonderful platform for me to continue to grow this business both within the UK and globally”

The Notary Public practice of M D Pryke Notary Public LLP will be unaffected by this appointment and has recently announced that it will be relocating its offices to 119-121 Park Lane, London, UK.

For further information about the business of Fine & Country please refer to the website www.fineandcountry.com.  For further details of Matthew Pryke’s Notary Public practice please refer to the website at www.mdpryke-notary.com.

After 5 successful years at Portland Place, London, on Monday 10^th October 2011 London Notary Public Practice M D Pryke will open a notary public office at 119-121 Park Lane, W1K 7AG.  The notarial services provided by this London notary will continue to provide a full legalisation and notary service.

The business is moving from its current location at Portland Place to a more prominent position in W1 and has chosen an iconic Park Lane address.  The Notary Publics London new office address will be 119-121 Park Lane, London W1K 7AG.  The relocation of this notary public practice will provide further accessibility to notary services both to individuals and businesses in the West End and also to clients in SW1, Victoria, Marble Arch and other surrounding locations in the City of Westminster.

Matthew Pryke, owner of M D Pryke Notary Public LLP commented “This is a very exciting step in the growth and expansion of our notary practice.  We have been located in Portland Place for the last five years.  The practice has continued to grow and it has become clear that the business and it’s clients would benefit from being located in this iconic part of London.  The offices in Park Lane are both accessible and luxurious.  The whole team are very much looking forward to moving to the new notary offices in October.”

The notary practice will continue to operate from its London office at One Portland Place until 30 September 2011.  For more information about this notary public practice and the notarisation and legalisation services offered please refer to the website at www.mdpryke-notary.com.

We recently reported two key changes to the legalisation services offered by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (“FCO”).  These changes have implications for most notary clients seeking an Apostille. Often clients and foreign lawyers refer to this as Apostillisation.  Many of our London notary clients asked for further advice and guidance regarding the FCO’s postal application service.  This article sets out the implications for notary public clients using the FCO’s legalisation office in Milton Keynes to obtain an Apostille.

FCO postal service

The FCO has indicated that approximately 60% of customers already submit their applications for legalisation via post. For these customers the new legalisation procedure is intended to provide benefits as the target turn around time for “straight forward applications” is planned to be 24 hours rather than the previous 48 hours.  However the experience of a number of our notary clients is that this reduced service time for obtaining Apostilles has not been consistently maintained since introduction at the beginning of April 2011.

FCO Public Counter

As approximately 30% of customers travelled in person to submit their applications via the Legalisation public counter these customers have had this service removed from them.  The alternative for these customers is to use a legalisation agent such as M D Pryke Notary Public LLP.  Registered legalisation agents still have a business counter service available to them so that documents can be delivered, legalised and collected within the same day.

FCO Premium Service

This service remains unaffected.  This service is only open to registered businesses. Therefore individuals looking to take advantage of this efficient service should engage the services of a legalisation agent such as London Notary Public Matthew Pryke.

Apostille Fees

In addition to increasing the legalisation fees the FCO are also encouraging on-line payments as a more convenient and cost-effective method.  Notary clients applying to the Milton Keynes office will still be able to pay by bankers’ draft, postal order and business cheques.  However if the amounts are incorrect or a document within a batch of documents are not entirely correct then the whole matter will be rejected by the FCO and returned to the client.

Given the changes which have been introduced by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office many more notary clients are taking advantage of the cost effective legalisation services offered by London notaries.  The ability for Notary Public practices to provide certainty regarding timings and cost is not only appealing to most clients but absolutely essential.

For further details of the legalisation and notarial services offered by London Notary Public practice M D Pryke Notary Public LLP or for further information on how to get documents legalised please refer to the website at www.mdpryke-notary.com.

It is often the case that documents, once notarised, require a Notary to also legalise the document.  The legalisation requirements for each country are different.  However the most usual request received by a Notary Public is to have the document “apostilled”.  To add an Apostille, or legalisation certificate, to a document involves liaising directly with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.  Recently the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has implemented a number of material changes to both the legalisation fees and the legalisation process.  This article summarises the key considerations for notary clients.

FCO legalisation fees increase

From 6 April 2011 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office increased the legalisation charges to:

£30.00 per document for its standard service (via its legalisation office in Milton Keynes).

£75.00 per document for its express service (via its London legalisation office at Centre Point).

These legalisation fee increases are a material consideration for all clients.  London notaries advise clients to plan in advance, if possible, legalisation requirements as this can often allow clients to achieve a saving.  For example a Notary can use the Foreign and Commonwealth Office standard service which generates a £45 saving per notarised document.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office legalisation public counter closed

From 1 April 2011 members of the general public have been unable to attend the Foreign and Commonwealth Offices in Milton Keynes.  Members of the public are required to use a postal service.  This means urgent matters cannot be hand delivered.  As legalisation agents, M D Pryke Notary Public LLP, is able to obtain legalisation on behalf of our clients via the Milton Keynes office or Centre Point in London within the same working day.

M D Pryke Notary Public comments, “The changes introduced by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are not entirely unexpected, given the pressure on government departments and their budgets.  We suggest you liaise with your notary public London at the first opportunity so the Notary can plan the budget and timetable to meet your commercial requirements.  As a full service London Notary Public practice we are able to notarise and legalised documents for every country globally.  We are always happy to provide detailed fee quotes and timetables which allow our clients to plan with certainty for every notarial and legalisation matter.”

For further details of the legalisation and notarial services offered by London Notary Public practice M D Pryke Notary Public LLP please refer to the website at www.mdpryke-notary.com.

With less than a week to go until London’s Sky Ride members of our notary office are busy preparing to take part in this wonderful celebrations in London’s calendar.

The London Sky Ride is a fantastic day where members of the public can cycle through a “traffic fee” London.  People wanting to take part in the ride can still register by going to www.goskyride.com. The Skyride is on Sunday 4th September. It is free and open to every member of London’s community who wish to explore the City of London on bike.

London is a key part of the Sky Ride campaign, which is a strategy to get one million people riding a bike by 2013. The event has attracted a great deal of publicity, not least for the active involement of Mayor of London, Boris Johnson and Kelly Brooke as a Sky Ride Ambassador.

Matthew Pryke explains “The London Sky Ride really is a fantastic day out for all the family.  Being able to cycle through London and enjoy this wonderful city from the comfort of your bike is an experience not to be missed.  Members of our Notary offices in London will be supporting this great event and welcome the Mayor of London’s promotion and support for this event and cycling as London’s long term transport solution.”

For further details of the London Sky Ride and the notary services of M D Pryke Notary Public please refer to the website www.mdpryke-notary.com.

Notary London firm, MD Pryke Notary Public LLP would like to pass on details of the Christmas and New Year opening hours for the Legalisation offices in Milton Keynes and Central London.

The Foreign and Commonwealth office advise that both Legalisation offices will operate as usual, up to and including Thursday 23 December 2010.

Milton Keynes – Norfolk House:

24 December: 09.30 to 14.00

27 December: Closed

28 December: Closed

29 December: Closed

30 December: 09.30 to 15.30

31 December: 09.30 to 14.00

03 December: Closed

04 December: 09.30 to 15.30

We are further advised that every Notary in London with documents to legalise on behalf of their clients must submit these documents by 15.00 on Thursday 23 December, in order that they can be legalised by Christmas.

Any Notary in London that wishes to have documents legalised before New Year must submit them prior to 15.00 on 30 December.

A Notary in London who wishes to legalise business documents on behalf of their clients must, as ever, submit them to the Centre Point offices in London.

The opening hours for the Centre point offices are as follows:

24 December: 09.00 to 14.00

27 December: Closed

28 December: Closed

29 December: Closed

30 December: 09.00 to 15.30

31 December: 09.00 to 14.00

03 December: Closed

04 December: 09.00 to 15.30

Notaries in London wishing to work around the FCO’s holiday hours are advised that on Christmas Eve they will accept documents received in the morning postal delivery and collect and return those taken in on 23 December.

For further information on the Notary information displayed here, please contact the Foreign and Commonwealth Office directly, or MD Pryke Notary Public LLP on 0207 636 4422.

Notary Public London Guides usually focus on complex topics such as: power of attorney, the legalisation process, apostilles, or changing a name by Deed Poll.  Our aim is to break down a complex process or piece of legislation into easily understood sections, providing our readers with a broad overview upon which to make an informed decision.

MD Pryke Notary Public LLP, was recently approached by a US citizen visiting the UK, enquiring whether we offered a London mobile notary service, who then requested we meet him in Manchester.  Unfortunately, we were not able to fulfil his request but as mobile notary service is a term commonly typed into search engines, we thought that it may be useful to explore what distance a member of the public can expect a Notary Public in London to travel in order to meet clients.

As discussed in previous Notary Public London Guides, MD Pryke Notary Public LLP is based in the City of Westminster, and we will travel to our clients’ homes or business addresses in Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham, Camden, Islington, Wandsworth, Lambeth and Southwark.

London is such a densely populated city that any reputable London Notary will most likely offer a mobile service in order to process a notarial matter.  Notary fees vary widely however so please remember that an additional cost may be incurred if a client requests a mobile notary service.

For further details on Notary fees or any of the issues covered in this guide, please contact MD Pryke Notary Public LLP on 0207 636 4422.

Notary Public in London Guides, recently published two articles on money laundering regulations.  The first article described the process whereby criminals re-introduce the proceeds of their crime back into the fiscal system, the second Notary Public London Guide laid out an overview of the 2002 Proceeds of Crime Act and how it affects Notaries Public.

In this second article we advised fellow notaries in London and across England and Wales to contact the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) should they have suspicions regarding the integrity of any notarial transaction.

The feedback we received from fellow Notaries Public in London was that many Notaries are unsure of the correct procedure for contacting SOCA.

A Notary should contact SOCA the very moment they suspect a transaction may be unlawful and it is strongly advised that a suspicious Notary should make a report via the SOCA website at www.soca.gov.uk .  In urgent cases a Notary may contact them by telephone or fax but we are advised that a duty officer may not be trained to give legal advice.

SOCA contact details are:

Telephone – 020 7238 8282
Fax – 020 7238 8286

If SOCA are alerted prior to a Notarial transaction taking place, the Notary is not permitted to act unless they have not had a response from SOCA in 8 working days.  After this period consent can be assumed and the transaction may proceed.

If SOCA contact the Notary in question within this 8 day timeframe then the transaction may not be completed for a further 31 days.

For further information please contact MD Pryke Notary Public LLP.

This Notary Public London Guide is the second article in a series about money laundering.  The first article dealt with the various stages of the financial process whereby criminals reintroduce the proceeds of their crime back into the monetary system.

This Notary Public London Guide tackles some aspects of the ‘Proceeds of Crime Act’ of 2002 and the implications for Notaries Public in England and Wales.

The act established three principle areas of money laundering, namely:

• Arrangements
• Acquisition
• Concealing

Any Notary Public in London (or elsewhere) must disclose any suspicions to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) as soon as these concerns become apparent. Furthermore, the transaction will not be able to proceed until SOCA has given its consent.

A Notary Public must be aware that under the terms of the 2002 Act mentioned previously, the law applies to the passive possession of criminally acquired property and proceeds, and there are rather draconian measures awaiting those who fail to comply with the current regulations.

A Notary in breach of one of the principle offences mentioned above, risks a maximum punishment of a 14 year prison sentence and a large fine.  Any Public Notary who commits a ‘failure to disclose’ offence, or is found guilty either of ‘tipping off’ a criminal or behaving in a manner that might be construed as obstructing an investigation, faces a maximum jail term of 5 years and the possibility of a fine.

As ever, this Notary Public in London guide is intended to be a broad overview of an extremely complex piece of legislation.  Should you have any concerns about money laundering, MD Pryke Notary Public LLP strongly advise you to contact the Serious Organised Crime Agency.

Notaries Public have to be aware of the current money laundering regulations and conduct their business accordingly.  Money laundering is something of a hot topic in law circles at the moment so MD Pryke Notary Public LLP has produced a series of articles designed to provide both Notaries and their clients with a broad understanding of the issues involved.

So, let’s tackle the definition of money laundering.  When the criminal receives the proceeds of crime they must search for a way to legitimise their windfall.  They do this by placing their money back into the financial system in order to disguise its origins and to appear as if it were the proceeds of a legitimate financial transaction.

This initial ‘placement’ of monies is often the easiest stage to detect that a crime has taken place so a Notary Public will take steps to ensure that they receive the correct level of identification before they can properly act.  If they suspect the motives of a client who, for example, wishes only to deal in cash without providing a reason for so doing, a Notary Public in London (or elsewhere, for that matter) is obliged to report their suspicions to the relevant authorities.  The procedure for this and the relevant contact details of the organisations involved will be published in future Notary Public London Guides.

The next stage in the money laundering process is often called layering, which is where a criminal will try to pass the money through a bewildering array of transactions designed to obscure its origins.

The final stage of which a Notary Public must be aware is the process of integration, whereby the criminal attempts to reintroduce the proceeds of his crime back into circulation, most often through a property transaction or by establishing a trading company.

For further details of money laundering regulations and how they affect a Notary Public in London, please contact Matthew Pryke through the usual channels or by calling 0207 636 4422.