Explanatory note

These Regulations supersede the Building Societies (General Charge and Fees) Regulations 1994 (“the 1994 Regulations”), which are revoked. They provide for a general charge to be paid by authorised building societies towards the expenses of the Building Societies Commission. The charge is levied with respect to the Commission’s accounting year beginning on 1st April 1995 and ending on 31st March 1996 and is expected to raise £3.8 million in aggregate. This is about 6 per cent lower than the aggregate sum raised in 1994-95 as a result of a surplus to be carried forward from 1994-95. Each society is required to pay a sum of £2,500 plus a sum equal to 0.00135 per cent of its assets, up to £30,000 million, and 0.000675 per cent of its assets above that amount, or in the case of a society formed by a recent amalgamation, a sum of £5,000 plus a sum equal to the same percentage of the aggregated value of the uniting societies. As the amount payable by each society is determined by total assets of that society, and charges overall are reduced by 6 per cent, most societies will pay a reduced charge, but some of those whose assets have increased by more than the average of all societies will have to pay more than last year.

The Regulations also provide for fees to be paid by societies in respect of particular functions of the Building Societies Commission in relation to mergers of societies and transfers of business to commercial companies and of the Central Office of the Registry of Friendly Societies under the Building Societies Act 1986, and fees to be paid by persons wishing to inspect or receive copies of documents in the custody of the Central Office. Fees in relation to transfers of business to commercial companies have been reviewed and are increased by approximately 42 per cent compared with the 1994 regulations. Search and related fees have been reviewed and increased from £4.50 to £8 (associated fees for obtaining copies etc have been increased by a comparable amount). All other fees are approximately 2 per cent higher than those payable under the 1994 Regulations.

A review of the cost of compliance with these Regulations has been untertaken and the resulting compliance cost assessment may be purchased from the Secretary, Building Societies Commission, 15 Great Marlborough Street, London W1V 2LL.