AMI slams ‘inappropriate’ FSA fee increases

The trade body welcomed the news that the smallest firms will see fees frozen or reduced, but highlighted larger firms may see their fees treble.

Robert Sinclair, director of AMI, said: "Intermediaries do not pose a systemic risk and were not responsible for the current economic situation we find ourselves in. This is a clear case of good firms paying for the failure of the banks and their regulator.

"While we understand FSA's rationale to enhance its overall capacity to deal with volatility and to 'minimise new initiatives,' this level of fee increase is fundamentally inappropriate. Every firm in the UK is facing great difficulty and trying to find ways of cutting costs. FSA is doing the opposite. At a time when the Government is trying to help small firms it is clear that this goes against that policy."

"We are quite simply not prepared to accept this, and to paraphrase the words of FSA Chairman Adair Turner, 'The intermediary community has paid too much for regulation for too long'."