SRA board chair Anna Bradley made the request to Justice Secretary Alex Chalk in a letter to Mr Chalk concerning the investigation into immigration lawyers caught in a Daily Mail sting last week.

In response to Mr Chalk’s request for an investigation into the issues unearthed by the newspaper, Ms Bradley said that the immigration sector was being examined.

She also, however, broached asked for the SRA’s fining powers to be increased. She said: “While individual solicitors should face the SDT for serious wrongdoing (and in appropriate cases forfeit their right to practise), that does not preclude the SRA from also fining them and their firm.

“This process could run in parallel with proceedings at the SDT and would deliver an obvious and immediate incentive for the proper running of the firm, a consequence for all partners of the firm and a clear motivation for the firm to ‘self-regulate’ or face the significant financial consequences.”

The SRA is likely to receive unlimited fining powers for certain offences through the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill currently under consideration in Parliament.

Ms Bradley noted that the SRA had advocated for such powers for many years, but she now requested that this authority be extended to all instances of grave misconduct. She said: “I have no doubt, that this would provide a swifter deterrent and change behaviour. However, in order to do so, the financial penalty must be much more significant than we can presently prescribe.”

Since July 2022, the SRA has had the ability to fine traditional firms up to £25,000 – with the limit set at £50m for alternative business structures. This power has already been exercised by the regulator on several occasions, including instances of anti-money laundering rule breaches.