FCA Fee's an Levies (2017-18)

 As firms are aware, there is an annual consultation of authorised firms on the extent of fees and levies to be collected later in the year; all based on the budgeted amounts indicated in the Business Plans from the various organisations that are involved in the regulation of the UK’s financial services industry. 

The FCA is responsible for collecting its own fees in addition to the levies charged by the other bodies that make up the cost of regulation, as follows: 

 The consultation closed on 09 June 2017 and final rates have now been published. 

The Pensions Guidance Levy (PGL), “will fund the provision of pensions guidance – Pension Wise”, but as before, this will only be charged to those firms that might gain a benefit from the guidance, e.g. insurers, pension scheme operators and IFAs, i.e. insurance intermediaries/brokers will not be included in this levy. 

However, there are changes afoot to both MAS and PGL; “The new single financial guidance body” as described below. 

The following list summarises the income figures agreed for 2017-18 for the relevant bodies: 

 As usual, the FCA has made its calculator available using its “final” rates chargeable for fees and levies, which can be accessed with the following link:

https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/calculate-your-annual-fee/fee-calculator 

You can calculate the probable costs to your firm by inputting the income figures from the Section J completed last year. 

We have chosen examples for firms that have an income from regulated activities of either £500,000 or £1,000,000; with the following costs as indicated by the FCA calculator:

On-Line Invoicing 

Invoices are usually issued during July and August each year and most firms will be alerted to the invoice appearing in their account on the On-Line Invoicing facility. 

The FCA is currently looking to move away from sending invoices by post with a view to issuing all invoices online, as it is the most efficient and economical way for them to communicate with firms. If you are not yet registered to receive on-line invoicing, you are likely to be receiving a request from the FCA for you to become registered. The steps to take are straightforward but if you have any issues, please contact us. 

The new single financial guidance body 

In March 2016, the Government consulted on setting up a two-body delivery model for Government-sponsored guidance. This included replacing the Money Advice Service (MAS) with a new, streamlined money guidance body and bringing together the Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) and Pension Wise into a new pension guidance body.  

However, after considering concerns raised by respondents to the consultation on how the two bodies might work together effectively, the Government announced in October 2016 that a single body would be better at responding to consumers’ different financial guidance needs. The Government consulted on this approach on 19 December 2016 and is expected to respond later this year.  

It will launch the new single financial guidance body no earlier than autumn 2018 and plans for the funding to keep coming from the financial service levy and the general levy. In the meantime, the Money Advice Service, the Pensions Advisory Service and Pension Wise will continue to do their statutory jobs.  

The Government expects that the amounts charged to the levies for the new single body will stay the same as the amounts charged before the new arrangements take effect. 

On 22 June 2017, the Government introduced the Financial Guidance and Claims Bill in the House of Lords. Part one of the Bill provides for a single financial guidance body which will replace MAS, TPAS and Pension Wise. The Bill also allows for the provision of funding to the devolved authorities for the cost of their locally commissioned debt advice. The body will be set up in the Bill as an arm’s-length body, accountable to Parliament, and sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).