Protecting the moment money moves: Practical completion controls

In our webinar, Regulation in Practice: How Law Firms Can Tackle Cybercrime, industry experts from law enforcement, regulation and practice discussed what effective fraud prevention looks like in live transactions, not in theory, but under real-world pressure.

One figure underlined the scale of the issue: £11.7m in losses were reported between April 2024 and May 2025.¹ But the panel focused less on the numbers and more on why fraud continues to succeed.

Three themes stood out:

1. Cybercrime is human-led. Fraudsters exploit trust, urgency and busy professionals rather than attempting to break hardened systems. Social engineering remains one of the most effective routes to funds.
2. Pressure creates openings. The final stages of a transaction are often the most vulnerable, with multiple parties involved, limited visibility across the chain and last-minute changes to sensitive details creating opportunities ripe for exploitation.
3. Controls must be provable, not just present. It is not enough to have a policy. Firms must be able to evidence that verification steps, approvals and escalation processes are consistently followed every single time, when money moves.

The discussion also highlighted the importance of culture. Firms that encourage early escalation, clear reporting and challenge, rather than quiet correction, are better placed to stop fraud before funds leave the account.

As Stephen Ward of the CLC put it:

“Often there’s a sense that new digital ways of working are riskier than the tools people are used to. Of course that’s not true. Today’s digital tools reduce risk because they provide far greater insight and security than paper-based systems ever could.”

Where connected workflows can support firms

Many firms are strengthening internal controls. The remaining challenge is often the infrastructure supporting completion itself, when large sums move and ownership changes.

Disconnected systems, manual re-keying and reliance on post-completion emails can introduce avoidable risk at exactly the wrong moment.

As an FCA regulated payment services provider, PEXA offers the UK’s only digital property completion infrastructure, connecting funds and title lodgement in a single secure workflow.

Rather than relying on disconnected systems and manual handoffs, PEXA brings financial settlement and registration steps together in a structured, regulated environment. Approvals are visible to the right people, key details are reused within the workflow, and fewer stages depend on post-completion emails or manual reconciliation.

In practical terms, this can help firms to:

• Reduce manual handling of funds and late-stage changes
• Increase control and transparency through structured workflows
• Improve oversight and auditability
• Support more predictable completions, reducing the uncertainty fraudsters rely on 

By connecting the movement of funds and registration of title, firms can reduce fraud opportunity and minimise risk exposure, while easing pressure on teams at the point of completion. That means fewer last-minute surprises, clearer control of checks and approvals, a stronger position when it comes to a firm’s risk profile, and less stress for firms and their clients when it matters most.

Sources: ¹Lloyds Bank 2024