meta_id 3006465

On March 2026, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published Consultation Paper CP26/11 proposing regulatory fees and levies for the 2026/27 financial year. The consultation applies to all FCA fee-payers, Financial Ombudsman Service levy payers, and firms considering applying for FCA authorisation or registration. The FCA's Annual Funding Requirement (AFR) for 2026/27 is £788.9 million, representing a 0.7 percent increase from the 2025/26 AFR of £783.5 million. This comprises an ongoing regulatory activities budget of £754.8 million (increasing by 1 percent) and exceptional projects totalling £34.1 million. The FCA proposes uplifting minimum and flat-rate periodic fees by 1 percent in line with the increase in operating costs. Minimum fees in fee-blocks A.0 and CC.1/CC.2 will reach £2,200 and £1,100 respectively through staged increases completing in 2026/27. Application, transaction, and notification fees will increase by 1 percent and be rounded to the nearest £10. The Financial Ombudsman Service general levy will increase to £86 million from £70 million in 2025/26, with an approved budget of £268.3 million. The FCA proposes an estimated financial penalty rebate of £72.8 million to reduce periodic fees across specified fee-blocks. The consultation also addresses levies collected on behalf of government departments, including Money and Pensions Service levies, Devolved Authorities debt advice levies, and illegal money lending levies. Additionally, the FCA proposes amendments to clarify that cryptoasset businesses applying for multiple permissions under the Money Laundering Regulations and Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 pay only one application fee, and to designate direct debit as the preferred payment method for fees and levies. The consultation closes on 30 April 2026. The FCA plans to publish a Policy Statement with final rules in early July 2026, subject to FCA Board approval in June 2026. Certain fee-payers have been invoiced from February 2026 for on-account payments, with remaining balances due in September 2026. Other firms will be invoiced from July 2026 based on the new fees and levies. Responses can be submitted via the online form at www.fca.org.uk or emailed to cp26-11@fca.org.uk.