Preparing for your annual FCA Reporting Requirements

So you receive this correspondence from the Financial Conduct Authority:

Your firm is due to submit its regulatory return(s) within 30 business days of your Accounting Reference Date. Reporting requirements apply to all firms with permissions to carry on regulated claims management activities, including firms with temporary permissions.

‍

Why

The FCA expects firms to submit complete, timely, and accurate regulatory returns. The integrity of regulatory reporting forms a key part of the foundation of effective supervision.

When

You will need to submit the return within 30 business days of your Accounting Reference Date, as set out in the FCA's correspondence above.

How

You will need to complete two documents on a required spreadsheet relating to your firm's performance in the previous year on the below: 1) Complaints return- this typically consists of questions around the total complaints outstanding against the firm, the type of complaints issued, and how many complaints were closed. 2) Financial return- this typically consists of questions around how many employees your firm had on average, your firm’s expenditure in respect of all regulated claims activities, the value of the firm’s total assets, and the calculation of the prudential resource.

Tips

To ensure accuracy and integrity, we typically advise that actions you take include

• regular, comprehensive reviews of the effectiveness of your governance, controls,
• processes around regulatory returns to ensure they are fit for purpose, and
• carry out deep dives that look at the accuracy of the returns themselves.

We have significant experience in supporting firms in this field and can provide added support & assistance in completing accurate regulatory reporting & returns.

We will be able to walk you through and complete the spreadsheet as required with tips on how to set up for the years ahead.