Advisers befuddled over huge levy increases

Advisers have reported increases of upwards of 50% on their annual regulatory bill, which many received this week. The regulatory bill is the total invoice that comes from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and takes into account the FCA periodic fee, the FSCS levy fee, the Financial Ombudsman Service levy fee, Financial Guidance levy fee, and illegal money lending levy fee. For Penney Ruddy & Winter Chartered financial planner and director David Penney, the year-on-year increase comes largely from extra FSCS-related costs. This year the firm faced FCA fees that were 54% greate...