The FCA has published Consultation Paper 14/7: Consumer credit interim permission fees for local authorities (CP14/7).

Local authorities did not require consumer credit licences from the OFT. The legislation which transferred regulatory responsibility for consumer credit from the OFT to the FCA provided that a local authority would be treated as having an interim permission to continue the regulated activities it had been carrying on in the year preceding 1 April 2014, provided it notified the FCA by 31 March 2014 of its wish to obtain interim permission and paid the required fee.

The legislation which specifies the scope of the regulated activities for which local authorities need permission was not made until 13 February 2014. This did not leave sufficient time for all local authorities to notify the FCA by 31 March 2014. The Government is expected to address the issue by introducing a statutory instrument extending the notification period for local authorities until 30 September 2014.

The relevant provisions on interim permission fees in the FCA’s fees rules lapsed on 14 April 2014. In CP14/7, the FCA is proposing a consequential amendment to FEES 8 to reinstate the FCA’s ability to charge local authorities an interim permission fee on the same basis as it would have done before 14 April 2014.

The deadline for comments on CP14/7 is 12 June 2014.

View CP14/7: Consumer credit interim permission fees for local authorities, 29 May 2014