The FCA has published its plans for how it will raise fees for 2024/25, which represent a consultation on the underlying principles of the fee system and policy changes to the way in which the FCA will raise fees.
- Each chapter in the Consultation Paper covers a specific policy area, and includes a table to illustrate which sections are relevant to which firms:
- All fee-payers and prospective fee payers – Chapter 2 and 3
- Funeral plan providers – Chapter 3
- Firms with credit-related Permissions – Chapter 4
- Firms paying levies for the Ombudsman Service (FOS) and the FSCS – Chapter 6
- The FCA is proposing to widen the key definition of ‘relevant business’ (for the purposes of calculating FOS levy) to include “business conducted with all customers eligible to complain to the Ombudsman Service, not just consumers (as currently defined).”
- The FCA will provide some clarifications in relation to what will make up the ‘annual eligible income’ to be declared in relation to the FSCS levy.
- The FCA will consult next April on uprating all ten Application category fees – so application fees are likely to rise across the board.
- The FCA minimum fee will continue to increase in line with plans previously set out by the FCA, and will rise by £250 to £1750 for 2024/25.
- The minimum fees for Limited Permission consumer credit firms (based on regulated revenue bands) will increase by between £250 and £100, and full Permission consumer credit firms will see their minimum fees increase by £250 in all three revenue categories (see the Table 2.1 on pages 10 and 11 of the Consultation).
- Changes are proposed in relation to paying fees by cheque, and in relation to Primary Information Providers (PIPs).
- A change is proposed to the proxy income measure for certain consumer credit firms, with a planned removal of the Bank of England base rate element of the proxy measure percentage calculation. The result will be that the proxy measure percentage will be fixed at 5%.
The consultation paper contains 15 questions covering the FCA’s proposals. Responses are required by 16th January 2024, and can be provided via an online form, via e-mail to cp23-22@fca.org.uk, by telephone to 0207 066 5406, or by writing to David Cheesman, Financial Conduct Authority, 12 Endeavour Square, London E20 1JN.