The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has proposed a £5,000 ($6,000, €5,800) category 5 fee as an “appropriate contribution” towards the costs of processing applications for financial promotions of new products.
This is following changes to the Financial Services and Markets Bill (FSMB), which requires firms to obtain permission from the UK regulator to approve financial promotions of products. The legislation, which is subject to parliamentary approval, will also prohibit regulated firms from undertaking financial promotions on behalf of unregulated businesses.
In its fees and levies proposal for 2023-24, the FCA does not anticipate “material ongoing supervisory costs” to affect periodic fees, so they will be “absorbed within existing resources”.
The FCA explained, however, that financial promotion applications will not be treated as a variation of permission, so the full charge will be payable whether or not the applicant is already authorised.
The watchdog added that every application will be charged separately, but if an applicant also submits a Part 4A application, usual rules will apply and they will only need to pay one fee – whichever is highest.
If a firm is already authorised under FSMB and subsequently wishes to extend its permissions to promote additional products, they will be charged 50% of the category 5 fee; but if it wishes to reduce the scope of its permissions, no charge will be applied.
