The Bank of England published a consultation paper setting out proposed supervisory fees for financial market infrastructures (FMIs) for the 2025/26 fee year, including updated fee rates, changes to fee ratios across UK FMI categories (including a new Category 3 for UK payment systems), and revised hourly rates for special project fees. The proposals apply to UK and non-UK central counterparties (CCPs) and central securities depositories (CSDs), and to recognised payment systems and specified service providers that pay, or expect to pay, FMI supervisory fees during 2025/26. For UK FMIs, the Bank proposes Category 1 charges of GBP 4.03 million for CCPs (including a rulebook development instalment of GBP 0.58 million), GBP 1.70 million for CSDs, and GBP 0.76 million for payment systems and service providers, with Category 2 charges of GBP 2.31 million for CCPs (including a GBP 0.33 million rulebook development instalment) and GBP 0.51 million for payment systems and service providers. Relative to final 2024/25 fees, the proposals imply increases of 7.8% for UK CCPs and 15.2% for UK CSDs, while UK payment system fees remain constrained by the statutory fee cap; the Bank also flags that the UK CCP rulebook programme is now forecast at GBP 5.0 million versus GBP 4.5 million previously, with recovery options to be consulted on in 2026/27. Fee ratio changes under consultation would move CCPs, CSDs and payment systems to a harmonised 1.75:1.00:0.33 ratio across Categories 1 to 3 (introducing Category 3 for payment systems), replacing existing ratios such as 1.75:1.00:0.57 for CCPs and 1.50:1.00 for payment systems. The Bank also sets proposed special project fee hourly rates for 2025/26 of GBP 70 (administrator), GBP 155 (associate), GBP 225 (technical specialist), GBP 300 (manager) and GBP 415 (any other persons employed by the Bank), and proposes recoveries for 2024/25 underspend from UK CSDs (GBP 32,505 for Category 1) and UK CCPs (GBP 49,276 for Category 1 and GBP 28,158 for Category 2). Responses are requested by 9 December 2025, and the Bank proposes implementing the 2025/26 fee measures in Q4 of the 2025/26 fee year (December 2025 to February 2026) when invoices will be issued. It also notes that significant variances between forecast and actual supervisory resource spend will be addressed after the 2025/26 fee year via a rebate or an additional fee request, and that it is exploring an earlier annual consultation timetable alongside Bank Levy and Prudential Regulation Authority fees consultations, while HM Treasury is exploring options to raise the payment systems fee cap in a future year.

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