FCA defends adviser levy as it confirms £75m bill for 2015-2016

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has defended the methods it uses to calculate advisers' contribution to its annual costs as fair and proportionate, as it confirmed a 10% hike for firms for 2015-2016.

The regulator announced on 23 June it will collect a total of £74.9m from its A13 fee block, which houses retail investment adviser firms, for the existing financial year. This was the amount it consulted on earlier in 2015, and is 10.2% higher than the £68m it collected for the previous 12 months. It also represents 15.5% of the £481.6m the FCA will levy on regulated firms for the financial year. But the FCA also defended the way it calculates the amounts contributed by financial advisory firms, following concerns raised by advisers and trade bodies, including that the average fir...