This would be higher than the £23m regulatory fees and levies imposed on advisers the year before.
In the final publication of its regulatory fee and levy rates for the period, the regulator said that appointed representative firms would pay a fee of £7.4m for the year, a 3% year-on-year rise.
The FCA said a trade body suggested the regulator revisit the staged increases to fees applied to firms in the consumer credit and A blocks, including mortgage advisers.
The trade body argued that the staged increases were introduced in 2022, when inflation was higher, and therefore should be moderated.
The FCA said the increases were not based on inflation and were introduced to better reflect the minimum costs of regulating the firms in these categories. It said firms in these blocks would have been exempted from the increases in line with its ongoing regulatory activities, which do include inflationary rises. Therefore, the FCA said it would not revisit the minimum fees imposed until 2026/27, when the staged increases were set to end.
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In response to its proposal to spread the cost of bringing energy, social and governance (ESG) ratings providers into its regulatory remit across all fee payers, some stakeholders agreed with the proposal, while others did not, as they said some sectors would not benefit from the regulation of ESG ratings providers.
The FCA said it was proportionate to spread this across all firms as there was the potential for this to impact all firms.
The total fees payable by all firms for 2025/26 is £711.9m, an £8m reduction on the year before.
The fees the FCA collects to pay for its annual funding requirement are budgeted to cost £783.5m. This comprises the regulator’s ongoing regulatory activities and exceptional projects.
It has reduced this by applying the £71.6m of financial penalty revenues it retained from 2024/25.
