The Building Societies (General Charge and Fees) Regulations 1991

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations supersede the Building Societies (General Charge and Fees) Regulations 1990 (“the 1990 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 1991 and ending on 31st March 1992 and is expected to raise £3.2 million. Each society is required to pay a sum of £1,100 plus a sum equal to 0.00162% of its assets, up to £20,000 million, and 0.00081% of its assets above that amount, or in the case of a Society formed by a recent amalgamation, a sum of £2,00O plus a sum equal to the same percentage of the aggregated value of the uniting societies.

The Regulations also provide for fees to be paid by societies in respect of particular functions of the Building Societies Commission and 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. These fees are approximately 8% higher than those payable under the 1990 Regulations.

The fees in respect of functions related to merger of societies and transfer of a society’s business to a commercial company have been increased to reflect the true cost of the service provided, but these regulations give power to the Commission to waive or reduce these fees where the Commission considers that the merger or transfer to an existing commercial company would be expedient to protect investments in the society.