FCA plans 4.2% increase in adviser fees

Advisory arrangers, dealers or brokers in the A.13 fee paying block will pay a total of £80.3m over the next year, up from £77.1m in 2017/18.

The regulator says its total funding requirements for the upcoming year are £543.9m, an increase of 3.2%.

Home finance providers in the A2 block will see fees rise by 3.8%, while GI and life insurers will both see a 3.2% rise.

The FCA said the rise in its funding requirements includes its ongoing regulatory activities and EU withdrawal costs, for which it has set aside £5m.

Other regulatory costs include MiFID II, continued consumer credit work, and a £0.3m set up cost for the formation of the Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision.

The FCA has also published its Business Plan for 2018/19 which sets out the key priorities for the coming year.

The regulator said that the plan reflects the high level of resource the FCA needs to dedicate to European Union withdrawal.

Alongside this work, the FCA will focus on seven cross sector priority areas, based on assessments of where there is the greatest harm or potential for harm, and where intervention can have the greatest impact. The priority areas are:

- Firms’ culture and governance which should drive behaviours and produce outcomes likely to benefit consumers and markets.
- High-cost credit, building on the significant impact already made in the market.
- Tackling financial crime, including fraud, scams and anti-money laundering to make the UK financial services sector a hostile place for criminals and a safe place for consumers.
- Data security, resilience and outsourcing since technology plays a pivotal role in delivering financial products and services.
- Innovation, big data, technology and competition which are driving change in markets.
- The treatment of existing customers to ensure that they do not get less attention or receive poorer outcomes than new customers.
- Long-term savings, pensions and intergenerational differences which reflects the changing UK population and their financial needs.

Andrew Bailey, chief executive of the FCA, said: "The Business Plan is an important way in which we are transparent about our priorities for the year. We recognise that this year we need to dedicate a significant amount of resource to withdrawal from the EU. As a result, setting our priorities this year has involved a particularly rigorous level of scrutiny and challenge to focus on areas where we see the greatest potential for harm."