Getting in some RMAR

Retail mediation activities return reporting depends on when your financial year ends and the size of your firm. Unless your annual brokerage is less than £60,000, you will have to report half-yearly. This begins in July, when firms with financial years ending 31 December or 30 June will be the first to report. Bear in mind the first reporting period will be from 1 April, rather than from the start of the period if earlier.

There are financial penalties for late submission, so check the date that applies to your business and prepare in good time.

The forms can be viewed at www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/other/sup_chapter16_annex18ar.pdf. In addition to financial information, you will need to report on numbers of staff assessed as competent, numbers of supervisors, complaints, and so on.

You should view the form-filling simply as providing the evidence that your business has embedded the various aspects of regulation, bearing in mind that, when you completed your application last year, you did affirm to the FSA that all these matters were either in place, or would be by 15 January 2005.

You can fulfil your obligations to your business and the FSA by taking more time out to get up to speed or by seeking external help. If you choose the latter, remember that the responsibility for compliance ultimately rests with the approved persons of the firm.