The FCA has recently announced it is making changes to the method of collection and some of the information it requires to be reported via the Retail Mediation Activities Return (RMAR).

Section K ‘Adviser Charging’ will change for data reported from 31 December 2014. The key differences are:

• The return will need to be submitted annually rather than 6 monthly as it is now;
• The information can be submitted on an accruals (when written) or cash (when the money is received into the bank account) basis;
• The FCA has changed the wording of some questions to clarify what is needed;
• There is one question asking if the return is for independent or restricted advice or both;
• There is no longer a need to distinguish the fees facilitated by a platform from those facilitated by a product provider; however those paid directly from clients are still reported separately. 

Some firms will have already noticed that section L ‘Consultancy Charging’ has recently disappeared from the regular RMAR returns and this will remain the case going forward.

The changes are outlined in PS14/13, snappily titled, ‘Changes to regulatory reporting: Adviser charging and product sales data (PSD), including feedback to CP14/5 and final rules’ which can be found here.