This chapter applies to a firm that:

1. (1)
   1. (a)

      has a Part 4A Permission; or

   2. (b)

      is an incoming EEA firm with a branch in the United Kingdom; or

   3. (c)

      is an incoming Treaty firm with a branch in the United Kingdom; and

2. (2)

   is in one of the following activity groups listed in Part 1 of FEES 4 Annex 1A:

   1. (a)

      A.1 Deposit acceptors;

   2. (b)

      A.4 Insurers — life;

   3. (c)

      A.7 Portfolio managers excluding Class (1)A firms;

   4. (d)

      A.9 Managers and depositaries of investment funds, and operators of collective investment schemes or pension schemes; and

   5. (e)

      A.13 Advisors, arrangers, dealers or brokers.

Where rules from other FEES chapters are incorporated into this chapter, those rules are the rules in effect on 1 April 2015.

A firm must pay the pensions guidance levy applicable to it:

1. (1)

   in full and without deduction; and

2. (2)

   in accordance with this chapter.

1. (1)

   A firm must pay the pensions guidance levy applicable to it within 30 days of the date of the invoice to which that sum relates, unless any of (2) to (5) apply.

2. (2)

   If the firm has applied to cancel its Part 4A permission under SUP 6.4.5D (Cancellation of permission), the firm must pay the pensions guidance levy applicable to it on the date of its application.

3. (3)

   If the FCA has exercised its own-initiative powers to cancel a firm'sPart 4A permission, the firm must pay the pensions guidance levy applicable to it immediately before cancellation takes effect.

4. (4)

   If the firm receives or extends its permission during the fee year, the firm must pay the pensions guidance levy applicable to it within 30 days of that date.

5. (5)

   If:

   1. (a)

      the due date falls during an emergency period as set out in GEN 1.3.2R (Emergencies); and

   2. (b)

      the firm has reasonable grounds to believe that those circumstances impair its ability to pay the pensions guidance levy applicable to it;

   the firm must pay the pensions guidance levy applicable to it on or before the fifth business day after the end of that emergency period.

The pensions guidance levy applicable to a particular firm is calculated as follows:

1. (1)

   identify each of the activity groups in FEES 10.1.1R (2) that apply to the business of the firm for the relevant period;

2. (2)

   calculate the amount payable under FEES 10.2.4 R for each of those activity groups;

3. (3)

   modify the result in accordance with FEES 10.2.5 R if applicable; and

4. (4)

   apply any payment charge in FEES 4.2.4 R.

The amount payable for a particular activity group is calculated as follows:

1. (1)
   1. (a)

      calculate the size of the firm's tariff base for the activity group using:

      1. (i)

         the tariff base calculations in Part 3 of FEES 4 Annex 1A; and

      2. (ii)

         the valuation date requirements in Part 5 of FEES 4 Annex 1A;

   2. (b)

      exclude mathematical reserves in the calculation for fee block A4;

2. (2)

   use the figure in (1) to calculate the levy applicable for each band in FEES 10 Annex 1;

3. (3)

   add together the sums for each applicable band under (2); and

4. (4)

   the amount in (3) is the amount payable by the firm for that activity group.

For the first fee year during which FEES 10 applies to a firm'spermission to carry on a regulated activity, the pensions guidance levy applicable to that permission must be modified using the formula in FEES 4.2.6 R.

For FEES 10.2.4 R, a firm may apply the relevant tariff bases and rates to its non-UK business, as well as to its UK business, if:

1. (1)

   it has reasonable grounds for believing that the cost of identifying the firm'sUK business separately from its non-UK business is disproportionate to the difference in the pensions guidance levy payable by it; and

2. (2)

   it notifies the FCA in writing:

   1. (a)

      at the same time as it provides the information concerned under FEES 4.4 (Information on which fees are calculated); or

   2. (b)

      if earlier, at the time it pays the pensions guidance levy applicable to it.

The pensions guidance levy is calculated using the same information that is used to calculate a firm's periodic fee under FEES 4.

Where a firm which has not complied with FEES 4.4.2 R (Information on which fees are calculated) in relation to a particular fee year the pensions guidance levy for that firm for that fee year is calculated using (where relevant) the valuation(s) of business used to calculate the pensions guidance levy for that firm for the previous fee year, multiplied by the factor of 1.10.

1. (1)

   All levies payable under FEES 10 are stated net of VAT.

2. (2)

   Where VAT is applicable, this must also be included.

If a firm does not pay the total amount of the pensions guidance levy before the end of the date on which it is due, it must pay:

1. (1)

   an administrative fee of £250; plus

2. (2)

   interest on any unpaid part of the levy at an annual rate of 5% above the Official Bank Rate from time to time in force, accruing daily from the date on which the amount concerned became due.

The rules in the table in FEES 10.5.4 R and any other rules in FEES included in FEES 10 by cross-reference apply to the pensions guidance levy in the same way as they apply to periodic fees payable under FEES 4.

A reference to a periodic fee in a FEES 4rule incorporated into FEES 10 must be read, for the purposes of applying that rule to the pensions guidance levy, as a reference to the pensions guidance levy.