Information on FCA thematic - July 2023

To date, we have asked 1,275 firms to complete this survey. This population was randomly selected; including a mix of small, medium and large firms, and based on data which suggested these firms were active in the retirement income advice market.

As at 26 June 2023, 325 firms have responded. Of these, 162 are directly authorised firms and 163 are principal firms (who have ARs).

As at 26 June 2023, 17 principal firms have responded on behalf of 25 ARs.

Currently no firms have failed to meet the deadline. The survey was issued over three tranches between 9 and 13 June 2023. Firms have three weeks to respond. The deadline expires between 30 June and 4 July 2023, depending on the tranche which the firm falls within.

The review requires collaborative input from various areas across the FCA and is being resourced through existing headcount. We do not specifically record the time spent by FCA colleagues on this review and so are unable to provide you with an estimate of the ‘internal staff costs’ incurred to date. To answer this part of your request, we would need to contact any FCA employee who had worked on the review, who would then have to retrospectively analyse their working time to identify time spent on this review as against any other project – the analysis and reconciliation required, being tantamount to the creation of new information.

We have not engaged any third parties, so we have not incurred any external costs in relation to the review to date.