Application Fees
Any organisation applying to us for authorisation or registration has to pay an application fee. We may also charge an application fee where currently authorised firms seek to vary their permission.
Firms applying for authorisation
Application fees must be paid whether or not the application is successful and are not refundable. This reflects the fact that we must commit resources to processing applications; all applications have a cost to us regardless of their outcome.
Application fees are flat-rate fees that vary according to the category of business for which authorisation is being sought. This category is determined by what regulated activities a firm wishes to undertake. These activities will then place a firm into (a) specific activity group(s), also known as (a) fee-block(s). The fee-blocks are divided into three groupings, and the application fee payable within each grouping are:
For applicants that wish to become authorised persons there are three main types of application fees:
- straightforward - £1,500
- moderately complex - £5,000
- complex - £25,000
The complexity of an application is determined by the fee-block(s) to which an applicant would be allocated if the application were successful.
From 1 June 2006, an application involving only a simple change of legal status attracts 50% of the relevant authorisation application fee. Complex applications still attract the full authorisation application fee.
Firms applying to vary their existing permission
Variation of permission (VoP fees) are payable by existing authorised firms when they wish to alter the regulated activities that they have permission to undertake.
If the variation means the firm would be placed in a different fee-block(s) to the one(s) it currently falls into, the VoP fee is 50% of the highest application fee that would apply if the application were for authorisation rather than a VoP.
A flat fee of £250 applies to all other VoP applications to add any regulated activities but which do not result in the firm being allocated to one or more additional fee-blocks. Credit unions are exempt from this fee.
No fees are payable for VoPs that involve only the deletion of activities from a firm's permission.
Application fee rates of each fee-block are in the FSA handbook, in the FEES Manual Fees 3, Annex 1R. Complete definitions for each of our fee-blocks for authorised persons are in FEES 4 Annex 1R of the FSA handbook.