On the go: Pension schemes are being asked to contribute £1m to the Financial Reporting Council levy, which will rise to £47.2m in 2020-21 from £41.7m in 2019-20.
According to FRC’s draft plan and budget published for consultation on Wednesday, pension schemes’ contribution is expected to increase by £100,000 when compared with the previous year.
The FRC’s levy is non-statutory and collected on a voluntary basis. However, should the system of voluntary payments prove unsustainable, the body will request for regulations to make the payments statutory.
The regulator also announced a “major shake-up of its oversight and supervisory functions” to speed up the pace of enforcement investigations.
The FRC is “also broadening its stated purpose, which is to serve the public interest by setting high standards of corporate governance and by holding to account those responsible for meeting them”.
The strategy for 2020-21 will see the watchdog make further progress in its transition to a new regulatory body proposed by last year’s independent review of the FRC.
Conducted by John Kingman, this review stated that the FRC should be replaced as soon as possible with a new independent regulator, with clear statutory powers and objectives.
The consultation on FRC’s plan and budget will run until February 28 2020.
