On 7 May 2025, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a policy statement, PS25/3, on consumer credit regulatory returns: credit broking, debt adjusting, debt counselling and providing credit information services.

Background

The FCA consulted in September 2024 (in CP24/19) on its proposal to issue a new regulatory reporting return for consumer credit firms who engage in one or more of the regulated activities of credit broking, debt adjusting, debt counselling, and providing credit information services. The new return will ask more tailored questions about how a firm operates, engages with consumers, and uses its permissions.

New regulatory return

In PS25/3, the FCA confirms that it will proceed with introducing the new regulatory return which seeks to make its expectations of firms clearer, using common industry terminology to help understanding. This is intended to assist firms in completing the forms and to result in fewer ad hoc information requests from the FCA.

The new return will have 5 mandatory sections for firms to complete, followed by tailored questions specific to their permissions. The mandatory sections will ask for data about firms’:

  • Permissions: The regulated activities firms have undertaken in the past 12 months.
  • Business model: The financial products, goods, and/or services firms are providing.
  • Marketing: The channels firms use to acquire consumers.
  • Revenue: Total revenue from credit-related activities and non-credit related activities.
  • Staff: The number of employees, and incentive and remuneration arrangements.

Next steps

Firms affected by the changes will need to ensure they meet the new requirements so that their reporting is in line with the changes in PS25/3. The timescales for implementing the changes are set out in Appendix 1 Handbook Text and highlighted in Chapter 2 of the PS.

The FCA plans to continue to engage with the industry throughout the implementation period and to provide additional supporting information where appropriate. It expects to carry out further consultations on the data it collects on the consumer credit market, but will delay any further consultations on other consumer credit activities until after the implementation of these returns in order to minimise the impact of the pace of change.