Two layers of rules
A practice website answers to the professional regulator, which governs what registrants may say and what they must display, and to general law on privacy, consumer protection and accessibility. Both change with the country, and a template designed in one place can quietly break the rules in another.
This is orientation for people planning a website, not legal advice. Every regime below moves, and the regulator's own current guidance is the authority. Use it to know what to ask your compliance lead, not to answer it.
United Kingdom
Who regulates the copy. Solicitors sit under the Solicitors Regulation Authority, with transparency rules that require certain price and service information to be published for particular work types and a required regulatory statement. Financial advisers and mortgage and insurance brokers sit under the Financial Conduct Authority, whose rules on financial promotions require communications to be fair, clear and not misleading, with the relevant status disclosure. Accountants are generally regulated through professional bodies such as ICAEW, ACCA and CIOT rather than by statute, with body specific rules on describing services and using the body's designations. Immigration advice has its own regulated framework. The Advertising Standards Authority and the CAP Code sit above all of it.
What must be displayed. Regulated name and entity details, the regulator or body with the registration number, the required regulatory wording, complaints procedure and the external redress body, and professional indemnity information where the regime requires it.
Privacy. UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act, a privacy notice matching what the site does, processor agreements, ICO registration where applicable, and PECR consent for non essential cookies.
Accessibility. The Equality Act, with WCAG 2.1 AA the practical standard.
United States
Who regulates the copy. Lawyers sit under state bar advertising rules, which vary meaningfully by state on required disclaimers, on the use of words such as specialist and expert, on past results and on client testimonials, and often require jurisdictional statements where the firm practises in more than one state. Investment advisers and broker dealers sit under SEC and FINRA marketing and communications rules, which set expectations around testimonials, endorsements, performance presentation, disclosure and record keeping of public communications. Accountants sit under state boards of accountancy and the AICPA code. The Federal Trade Commission applies to deceptive advertising generally, and its endorsement guidance applies to reviews.
What must be displayed. Firm name and offices, licensure and jurisdiction statements per state bar rules, adviser registration and required brochures or links, and the disclaimers your rules specify.
Privacy. No single federal law, but state privacy statutes in California and a growing list of others, with opt out rights and disclosure obligations, plus sector rules such as the Gramm Leach Bliley privacy provisions for financial firms and state breach notification laws.
Accessibility. The ADA applied to websites through litigation, with WCAG 2.1 AA the defensible standard. Professional service firms are frequent targets.
Canada
Who regulates the copy. Provincial law societies for lawyers, with rules on marketing, on specialist claims and on fee advertising that differ by province and are strictest in Quebec. Investment and mutual fund dealers and advisers sit under provincial securities commissions and the national self regulatory framework, with rules on communications and holding out. CPA provincial bodies for accountants. Immigration consultants sit under their own college, and displaying the registration is central because unregulated operators trade alongside regulated ones.
Privacy. PIPEDA federally, provincial statutes in Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec, and Quebec's Law 25 with its consent, transparency and privacy officer obligations. CASL applies to commercial electronic messages, including newsletter sign ups.
Language. Quebec's language legislation affects commercial websites serving Quebec.
Accessibility. AODA in Ontario references WCAG for many organisations, with the Accessible Canada Act federally and other provinces varying.
Australia
Who regulates the copy. Lawyers under the Legal Profession Uniform Law and the state legal services commissioners, with restrictions on advertising in particular practice areas. Financial advisers, mortgage brokers and insurance brokers under ASIC, with licensing, the best interests duty for brokers and advisers, and rules on how licence details and remuneration are disclosed. Accountants under the professional bodies, with tax agents also registered with the Tax Practitioners Board. The ACCC applies the Australian Consumer Law to every claim and every published price.
What must be displayed. Licence or authorisation numbers, the licensee you act under where you are an authorised representative, complaints and external dispute resolution details, and required disclosure documents.
Privacy. The Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles, a privacy policy, and the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.
Accessibility. The Disability Discrimination Act, with WCAG 2.1 AA the reference.
European Union
Who regulates the copy. National bar associations, chambers and supervisory authorities, with the regulated status of a profession itself varying by member state. Financial advice and insurance distribution sit under EU frameworks implemented nationally, which set information and disclosure duties. Advertising rules for lawyers and accountants remain national and range from restrictive to permissive.
What must be displayed. The E Commerce Directive as implemented nationally requires service providers to give identification details, the professional body, the professional title and the member state that granted it, the applicable professional rules and how to access them, plus VAT number where applicable. That is the single most commonly missed item on European practice sites.
Privacy. GDPR, with a privacy notice, lawful basis, processor agreements, and cookie consent under national ePrivacy implementations.
Accessibility. The European Accessibility Act brings many private digital services into scope, WCAG aligned, transposed nationally.
What is the same everywhere
- Do not mislead, including by omission, or claim expertise your regime does not recognise.
- Display who regulates you, with a number a client can verify.
- Check the rule on client testimonials and past results before publishing any.
- Keep sensitive documents out of general web forms.
- Have a privacy notice that matches what the site actually does.
- Build to WCAG 2.1 AA.
Where this sits
Every professional services website we build runs through a country and profession profile at the content stage, which sets the disclosure block, the title and testimonial handling, the privacy notice and the cookie behaviour. The same structure serves practices in all five regions; the profile is what changes.