Standardised cost estimates of regulatory obligations

Tender description

The FCA is seeking a supplier to provide an up-to-date study of the costs to business of certain regulatory obligations. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) commissioned two studies of standardised costs in 2006. The first report estimated incremental costs of complying with reporting obligations to the regulator (e.g. record-keeping requirements); the second estimated the cost of complying with rules requiring the disclosure of information to third parties, primarily consumers. The study also included estimates of the cost of labour for different standardised job categories. The reports use data from 2005 and have become too out-of-date for the FCA to use. The aim of the present tender is to commission similar up-to-date analysis, with the additional inclusion of estimation of standardised one-off costs. The supplier should aim to: 1. Produce a reasonable and up-to-date schedule of labour costs for different grades of relevant labour in financial services. 2. Using the labour costs and additional evidence, provide estimates of the cost to business of certain kinds of obligations the FCA repeatedly places on firms, both for one-off and ongoing costs. The results of the study will be used in FCA CBAs and Enterprise Act business impact assessments and, as such, need to be based on a robust and transparent methodology. In particular, the estimates must be sufficiently soundly based to be considered acceptable by the Regulatory Policy Committee.