The following posts provide a snapshot of selected UK, EU and global financial regulatory developments of interest to banks, investment firms, broker-dealers, market infrastructures, asset managers and corporates.
-
UK PRA proposed fees for 2025/26
10 April 2025
The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has published a consultation setting out proposals for its fees for 2025/26. The proposals would make amendments to the Fees Part of the PRA Rulebook (Appendix) and include: (i) the fee rates to meet the PRA's 2025/26 Annual Funding Requirement (AFR); (ii) the introduction of a cost allocation to fund the PRA's activities in the Future Banking Data project; (iii) changes to internal model application fees, the model maintenance fee, the Special Project Fee for restructuring, the minimum fee and the new firm authorisation fee for Type 3 applications; (iv) changes to the fees rules for firms applying to cancel before the start of the fee year; (v) how the PRA intends to allocate the surplus from the 2024/25 AFR (Chapter 3); and (vi) the retained penalties for 2024/25 (Chapter 4). The PRA's proposed Total Funding Requirement for 2025/26 is £342.5 million, a decrease of £10.5 million (3%) from 2024/25 (£353.0 million). This consultation closes on 9 May.Topic : Fees / Levies -
UK FCA consults on fees and levies for 2025/26
8 April 2025
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a consultation paper (CP25/7) on its rates proposals for regulated fees and levies for 2025/26 and proposed amendments to the FEES manual. The annual funding requirement (AFR) required for the FCA to deliver its programme of work for the year is £783.5 million, which includes the baseline cost of ongoing regulatory activities and exceptional projects. The FCA's key proposals, among others, include adjustment to periodic fees, application fees, and levies for the Financial Ombudsman Service, Money and Pensions Service and other government departments with plans to also introduce a new fee-block (CC4) for motor finance lenders involved in discretionary commission arrangements (DCA) between 2007 and 2021 to recover costs of the FCA's review following the Court of Appeal ruling on the motor finance commission complaints. The consultation closes 13 May, with final rules expected to be published in early July.Topic : Fees / Levies -
UK FOS Plans and Budget published for 2025/2026
3 April 2025
The UK Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has published its plans and budget for 2025/2026, together with an accompanying press release. The FOS notes that there has been more uncertainty than usual over the last year, and this will continue into the next year. This is, in particular, due to the ongoing legal and regulatory developments in relation to motor finance commission complaints and the introduction of a fee for certain professional representatives, which the FOS expects will lead to a volume reduction as it will receive fewer cases without merit. In addition, the FOS expect disputed transactions cases in relation to fraud and scams to remain high, and an increase in respect of volumes of complaints in relation to authorised push payments. Despite the high level of complaints being referred, the FOS is not raising the case fees for businesses, and will be maintaining the reduced compulsory and voluntary jurisdiction levies. The FOS also confirms that it will carry out work over the course of the coming year to understand the impact of the introduction of regulatory rules in relation to deferred payment credit (previously referred to as buy now, pay later), which the FCA has said that it will consult on in the upcoming 2025/2026 period. -
EBA guidelines on reporting templates to assist competent authorities with supervisory duties under MiCAR
2 April 2025
The European Banking Authority (EBA) has updated its webpage with the official translations of the guidelines on templates to assist competent authorities in performing their supervisory duties regarding issuers' compliance under Titles III and IV of the Markets in crypto-assets Regulation, initially published on 26 March. These guidelines apply to competent authorities, issuers of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) and issuers of e-money tokens (EMTs) and specify instructions and common templates to be used by ART and EMT issuers to provide competent authorities and the EBA with the necessary information, and to collect the data they need from relevant crypto-asset service providers. The guidelines apply from 26 May. Competent authorities must notify the EBA by 26 May whether they (i) comply, (ii) do not comply, but intend to comply, or (iii) do not comply and do not intend to comply with the guidelines, with their reasons for not complying. In the absence of any notification by this deadline, competent authorities will be considered by the EBA to be non-compliant.Topic : Fees / Levies -
UK FOS new charging structure applied
1 April 2025
The UK Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has updated its webpage confirming that the new charging structure, which includes charges for professional representatives referring cases, now applies. The changes have been made in accordance with the two implementing instruments (FOS 2025/1 and FOS 2025/2) whose relevant provisions came into force on 1 April. The rules have been introduced to make the funding arrangements for the FOS fairer, and to encourage professional representatives – including authorised claims management companies and certain legal professionals – to give complaints more consideration before deciding to refer them to the FOS. As detailed in the policy statement published on 7 February, professional representatives can now refer up to ten cases for free each financial year. Subsequently, they will be charged £250 for each additional case but will receive £175 back in credit if the case outcome is in favour of the consumer. In terms of the charges to be paid by the firm against whom the complaint is made, if the complaint is not upheld or withdrawn, the firm's fee will be reduced to £475 instead of £650 (these figures being subject to any group charging arrangement). Individuals, families, friends, charities, and voluntary organisations who bring cases directly to the FOS will continue to be able to use their service for free. -
UK PRA policy statement on FSCS MELL 2025/2026
28 March 2025
The UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has published a policy statement providing feedback to its consultation paper CP1/25 on the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) Management Expenses Levy Limit for the year 2025/2026. The policy statement was published alongside the PRA Rulebook Instrument making the necessary changes to the PRA Rulebook, setting the amount which the FSCS may recover from the sums levied as management expenses for the 2025/2026 period. The policy statement confirms that since the publication of the consultation paper, the FSCS has confirmed that the projected underspend (which was approximately GBP1.7 million for 2024/25) is now GBP2.8 million, which, if it materialises, will be used to offset the levy for relevant classes in 2025/26. The instrument came into force on 1 April.Topic : Fees / Levies