Financial advisers will pay £82.3m towards the Financial Conduct Authority’s fees for the coming year, according to its annual fee policy statement.

This represents a rise of 1.5% for advisers, up from £81.1m collected in the current year.

The FCA has revised its overall budget to £613.7m, an increase of 4% (£23.8m) year on year.

It had proposed a budget of £616.5m in April however, following feedback, the regulator has decided not to enact a proposed new periodic flat fee of £250 for each appointed representative, an idea floated in a consultation paper in April. This would have raised an additional £10m for the regulator.

Instead, the regulator has reduced its introducer appointed representative fee to £75, with a £250 fee for full appointed representatives. As a result, the new fee will only raise an additional £7.2m.

Wealth management trade body PIMFA has welcomed the lower fee for appointed representatives. 

Simon Harrington, senior policy adviser at PIMFA, said: “We welcome the FCA's decision to introduce a much lower fee for principals to the one that it proposed in its initial consultation and which PIMFA strongly disagreed with.

“But our concerns around the provenance of the flat fee have not been assuaged. It is still unclear what the FCA hopes to achieve through their undefined market study, and the largest firms with superior controls will still be penalised.

“However, the FCA have clearly listened to our concerns and we look forward to working with them closely on ensuring that they can gain comfort from the appointed representative model, which works well for the vast majority of firms and clients."

The FCA has also extended the time medium and small firms have to pay fees due to the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. They now have 90 days to pay compared to two months previously.

Most (88%) of firms will have until the end of 2021 to pay their fees and levies. Larger firms are still expected to pay their fees under the usual payment terms, the regulator said.

Financial Planners can expect to see their periodic fees and levy invoices from the regulator from this month.

The FCA will be conducting a wider review of its fee structure, including all minimum fees, as part of its transformation programme.