Last week, the regulator announced that professionals which fell under the A.18 class and comprises home finance providers, arrangers and advisers would pay £21m for the year 2023/2024. The FCA also said its overall funding requirement would rise from £630.9m to £684.2m.
Robert Sinclair (pictured), chief executive of AMI, said: “We will be challenging the 10.4 per cent increase in the cost of regulating our sector as the funding requirement has only increased by 8.4 per cent and we do not have any explanation as to why the mortgage sector should bear a disproportionate share of the costs.”
The association otherwise welcomed the proposed fees for the year which included a flat fee rate for firms in the mortgage sector and a seven per cent rise for organisations in the protection market.
AMI said lower Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) costs meant if firms saw the same turnover as last year, their fee invoices should be “broadly the same”.
The fees for smaller firms have also been frozen, as is the levy imposed on appointed representatives and introduced appointed representatives at £266 and £80 respectively.
AMI said it successfully lobbied to bring funeral plan providers under FCA regulation to they could cover the £5m costs imposed on firms.
The association said: “The FCA agreed with our stance, meaning mortgage intermediary firms will no longer have to contribute to this cost recovery.”
Sinclair added: “AMI has again demonstrated its value to the industry by challenging charging all firms for the costs of creating a new authorised class of firms. This is an important precedent.
“We welcome the holding of smaller firms’ fees in these turbulent times. In a volatile interest rate environment, it is important that consumers have access to as many advisers as possible.”
