FCA proposes streamlined fund reporting for asset managers
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently opened a consultation on a new fund reporting framework for UK asset managers, part of a wider package the regulator estimates will save the industry £128 million a year.
Fund Reporting for Asset Management Entities (FRAME) would replace today’s patchwork of requirements with consolidated forms, cut some notification obligations, and scale reporting to the size and risk profile of the fund. Firms would continue to submit either through an online form or by XML upload, although the FCA is also considering an option where enhanced reporting could only be filed as XML, on the grounds that richer datasets are poorly suited to manual entry. Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs) would be collected where available.
The FCA’s challenge is one digital reporting advocates will recognise: inconsistent requirements across fund types produce data that is difficult for firms to submit and difficult for the regulator to use. Its own figures show 40% of firms already rely exclusively on XML upload for Annex IV returns, as a structured submission lets them extract and transform their own data, rather than rekeying it. That’s an argument for pushing toward machine-readable filing, for easier data use and reuse. A prototype form is promised before the end of 2026. Clearly, at XBRL International we strongly suggest that regulators examine newer formats with strong validation, error checking and machine-readable semantics, such as xBRL-JSON and (useful for high volume data collections such as those sought from asset manager) xBRL-CSV.
The consultation closes on 22 September 2026, with final rules expected in the first half of 2027 and full implementation in 2028.Take a look now to help shape the technical details.
Read more here.
