< p>As part of the FSA’s tough new guidelines to ensure that RDR rules on adviser charging are complied with, the regulator is planning to ban adviser firms accepting payments from service providers which incorporate a profit margin.

The FSA is likely to bring service providers into the scope of the RDR commission ban in order to ensure that advisor firms – including IFAs and networks - remain compliant.

The commission ban was enforced following the regulator’s concerns that advisors impartiality could be impaired by accepting a profit for services rendered to them; cost-only payments have now been implemented. 

The FSA previously sent a letter to 24 CEOs of large adviser firms which stated that it would not tolerate payments that work around the RDR rules.

The plans for an extended commission ban are likely to be unwelcome as recent warnings from the Association of Professional Financial Advisers (Apfa) suggest that advisers could face a 30 per cent hike in regulatory fees.

Policy Director at Apfa, Chris Hannant, said: “Our initial calculations suggest that there will be a big hike in fees for all types of intermediaries, potentially up to a 30 per cent rise. While we don’t know the breakdown, this could come as a further blow to advisers already dealing with the impact of the wider economic environment and the costs of RDR.

“What’s particularly disappointing is that firms are still unsure exactly what their total bill will be for next year. Uncertainty is damaging for businesses, so we urge the regulator to publish its fees paper as soon as possible.”

This was after the outgoing FSA published its first budget for the FCA, which comes into force on 5th April 2013.