The regulator is proposing a 4.3% increase in fees, the June inflation figure, and has gone out to consultation over the next month.
It said that the proposal was intended to ensure that it could ‘continue to deliver effective, high-quality regulation’.
‘The commission seeks to deliver effective regulation and to ensure that the Bailiwick remains an attractive jurisdiction in which to do business,’ said chairman John Aspden.
‘Our proposed overall increase is aligned with inflation and reflects the costs of maintaining a skilled and effective regulator.’
The financial results of 2025 saw a £1.36m. operating loss, on a fee income of £19.3m., which followed an £800,000 surplus in 2024.
The commission said that the proposed fees also aligned with the objectives of the States’ Finance Sector Strategy 2035, by helping ensure that the commission had the capacity, expertise and technology needed to fulfil the recommendations for which it is primarily responsible, including continuing work on the Digital Finance Initiative and the Innovation Sandbox.
It is also offering a one-off 17% rebate on annual fees for the insurance sector, which follows a significant enforcement penalty received by the commission earlier this year.
Under the Enforcement Powers Law, sums received from penalties imposed on persons licensed under a particular supervisory law must be taken into account when determining the fees payable under that law. It is also making amendments to certain fees under the Lending, Credit and Finance Law, to improve clarity for custodians; and confirmation that any future amendments to fees associated with stablecoin licences will be consulted on separately as its policy work in this area develops.
The commission said its financial planning continued to reflect the need to invest in the people, technology and specialist skills required to supervise an increasingly multi-faceted financial services sector.
In 2025 it continued to invest in internal systems and technology and also opened a second office at Regency Court, a project which cost £1.9m., and so the operating loss was planned.
Its staff costs went up £1.3m. over the year. The GFSC said it needed ‘skilled, experienced and confident staff’ across the organisation and would continue to invest in people but would not compete directly with the bonus cultures of the private sector.
Penalty fees received in 2025 were well down on the previous year at £416,000 compared to £1.47m. in 2024.
The commission’s fees have tended to track inflation in recent years following concerns raised about 15 years ago that fees were rising too quickly, and they were effectively frozen for a couple of years in response. Since 2021 there has only been one above-RPI increase proposed and agreed.
You need to be logged in to comment.