FCA announces changes to regulatory fees and levies

The regulator wants to discontinue fee-block F, which contains mutual societies that are on the mutuals register but are not authorised or regulated by the FCA.

The FCA plans to maintain the cost of running the register as a public service, which will represent an addition of approximately 0.3% to the fees of variable fee-payers.

The FCA uses societies’ annual returns to check that they continue to comply with legislation and should remain on the register. It has no supervisory responsibility towards the societies and no rule making powers except in relation to fees.

There are roughly 9,900 societies on the register and around 800 are also authorised by the FCA for Part 4A activities, including all building societies and a fifth of all friendly societies.

Unauthorised mutuals on the register pay flat annual fees, ranging from £67 for a society with assets under £50,000 to £495 for a society with assets over £1m.

The regulator says it costs roughly £1m to maintain the register, but at least £150,000 of that represents the cost of collecting the fees, so the net cost of the register itself is around £850,000.

The FCA stated: "The process of collecting fees from unauthorised mutuals is becoming increasingly expensive and is preventing us from introducing full online invoicing, which would deliver significant savings for both authorised firms and the FCA."

In the FCA's consultation paper, it also proposes to streamline the process of setting consumer credit fees by exempting community finance organisations and credit unions.

The regulator said that identifying the few that are eligible for variable fees and calculating their charges is an "inefficient use of our resources".

Finally, firms who currently contribute to debt advice funding across the UK will now contribute through two separate levies - one for devolved authorities (to fund debt advice in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) and one for the new single financial guidance body that will fund debt advice in England.