SRO / TMPR fees and levies

Our annual fees

We receive our annual funding through periodic fees, paid annually by the firms we regulate, based on the activities firms undertake. Our fee year runs from 1 April to 31 March and we consult each year, in April, on our fees for that fee year.

While they are in SRO:

• firms with a UK branch will continue to pay the minimum fees and variable fees (based on their tariff data) above the minimum size thresholds – however, fees discounts will no longer apply 
• firms without a UK branch will only pay the minimum fees 

While they are in the TMPR: 

• funds will pay periodic fees on the same basis as they did prior to entering the TMPR

Further details are included in Chapter 7 of Consultation Paper CP18/29[1] and Chapter 7 of our Policy Statement PS19/5[2].

We will invoice your firm between July and October each year. We’ll issue a single invoice covering your FCA fee plus fees and levies for any other regulatory organisations, as appropriate.

Find out more about our fees[3]. There is also information about how to calculate annual fees.

Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)

The FSCS[4] is an industry funded scheme of last resort that acts as a compensation safety net for customers of authorised financial services firms in the UK. The FCA and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) each make rules which set out how FSCS cover works and is funded, covering different areas of the financial services industry.

FSCS protection under our rules extends to investment provision, investment intermediation, insurance intermediation, debt management and home finance intermediation. The PRA is responsible for rules providing FSCS protection for deposits and insurance policies. 

The FSCS will cover the activities of firms in SRO with a UK branch and will provide FSCS protection (where there is currently FSCS protection under FCA rules), equivalent to the cover provided to customers of UK firms. This addresses the possibility that following the end of the transition period, customers of firms in SRO may have lost compensation scheme protection offered by home states. These firms are required to contribute to the cost of the FSCS.

Customers of cross-border fund managers that do not have a UK branch also receive FSCS protection for certain activities, and these firms will continue to pay into the FSCS during their time in SRO.

Customers of firms in SRO that do not have a UK branch will not have access to the FSCS (other than where there is existing FSCS cover in respect of the activities of cross-border fund managers) and these firms will not need pay into the FSCS.

Please also refer to our guidance on disclosure on compensation scheme coverage[5].

Financial Ombudsman Service

The Financial Ombudsman Service’s role is to ‘independently resolve certain disputes quickly and with minimum formality on the basis of what it believes is fair and reasonable in all the circumstances of the case’. Our how to complain[6] page explains the customer complaints process in our rules and how the Ombudsman Service fits into it.

Firms in SRO with UK branches will continue to be covered by the Ombudsman Service’s ‘Compulsory Jurisdiction’ and will continue to pay levies and case fees.

Firms in SRO without a UK branch, which exited the TPR without obtaining UK authorisation (whether because they did not apply or the application was not granted) also come under the Ombudsman Service’s ‘Compulsory Jurisdiction’ and must pay levies and case fees.

This will ensure that customers of these firms will not lose rights to refer complaints to an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme.

For firms in SRO that were already members of the Voluntary Jurisdiction (VJ) of the Financial Ombudsman Service, complaints (including post-transition period complaints) about their pre-transition period activities will continue to come under the VJ as they do now, so long as they remain within the VJ.

The size of the levy payable by each firm depends on the type and, in some cases, amount of ‘relevant business’ it does. The current case fee is £750, payable when the Ombudsman Service closes a complaint. Find out more about the Ombudsman Service’s funding[7].

See our Handbook[8] for the rules on levies and case fees.

Other levies

Firms in the TPR also need to pay the following periodic levies:

• Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) – Firms in SRO with a UK branch will continue to pay the money advice minimum levy and money advice variable levies on their tariff data above the minimum size thresholds but discounts will not apply. Firms in SRO without a UK branch will only pay the minimum money advice levy. The activities to which the money advice levy applies is set out in FEES 7C.3.3R. The activities to which the debt advice levy applies is set out in FEES 7C Annex 2. The activities to which the pensions guidance advice levy applies is set out in FEES 7C.1.2R. Note: MaPS was previously known as Single Financial Guidance Body and is referred to as such in our rules.
   
• Devolved Authorities – The debt advice levy is raised to fund debt advice for consumers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Firms in SRO with a UK branch will continue to pay the debt advice variable levies on their tariff data. The activities to which this levy applies is set out in FEES 7D Annex 1.
   
• Illegal Money Lending (IML) levy – IML levy is raised to recover the expenses that the Treasury incurs providing funding for the teams tackling illegal money lending and is recovered from consumer credit firms. Firms in SRO with a UK branch will continue to pay the minimum levy and variable levies based on their tariff data above the minimum size threshold. Firms in SRO without a UK branch will only pay the minimum IML levy. The activities to which this levy applies is set out in FEES 13A Annex 1.