FCA CEO Nikhil Rathi received a 4.4% pay increase in the past year, pushing his total salary and pension package up from £559,000 to £577,000, according to the FCA’s 2025-26 Annual Report and Accounts published this week.
Mr Rathi’s base salary rose from £492,000 to £514,000 at the same time as average (median) FCA salaries have now topped £73,000.
While Mr Rathi’s package is relatively high for the public sector, it is dwarfed by financial services senior level packages for CEOs which can run to several millions.
FCA chair Ashely Alder saw his total remuneration package rise from £171,000 to £178,000.
Source: FCA Annual Report & Accounts 2025-26
According to the annual report, FCA salaries overall ranged from £24,193 at the lowest level to £514,104.
Average remuneration for staff rose from £70,312 to £73,002.
Total FCA staff numbers continued their upward climb of recent years with total group staff numbers reaching 5,510 compared to 5,379 the previous year.
The FCA board’s People Committee awarded average salary increases to FCA staff during the year of between 1.6% and 4.3% to staff and took into account staff performance among other criteria, it said. Bonuses are no longer awarded.
Source: FCA Annual Report & Accounts 2025-26
FCA director salary packages showed significant increases, often where extra responsibilities were taken on. The total paid to the FCA’s 11 senior directors (excluding pensions) topped £3.537m compared to £2.921m the previous year.
Among senior directors, Sarah Pritchard (deputy CEO at the FCA) received a package of £459,000. Stephen Braviner Roman (general counsel and chief risk office) had a total remuneration package of £401,000 while Therese Chambers (executive director of enforcement) had a total package worth £398,000. David Geale (executive director of payments) had a package worth £375,000 and Sheree Howard (executive director of authorisations) had a remuneration package worth £393,000.
Sheldon Mills, author of the recent Mills Review of AI, saw his package fall after he took an extended period of leave during the year. His package for the year was £269,000, down on the £325,000 he earned the previous year.
The report revealed that 34 FCA staff received a remuneration package of at least £220,000, the same as the previous year although there were more staff in the higher pay brackets than previously, with 13 in the bracket of £260,000-£279,999 compared to only 8 the previous year.
For general FCA staff, salaries were increased by 3.5% in April with an increase also added to the size of the flexible benefits allowance for lowest paid workers. The FCA said to “recognise excellent performance in the moment” it has also maintained the budget for its ‘At Our Best’ staff recognition programme at £1.25m in 2026/27.
• Financial Planning Today Analysis: Many will criticise the FCA as a pretty well paid gravy train while others will say the organisation (with an annual revenue of over £800m) needs to pay attractive salaries to attract the right people. It also needs to recognise that it operates in the relatively highly paid financial services sector and it is competing with other financial employers. The FCA remains, however, a public body not a private one and when its senior staff are paid far more than those in senior roles in other public bodies such as the NHS, Police, Serious Fraud Office and others, then questions will remain. With average salaries of over £70,000 and staff numbers growing inexorably the FCA may be recognising this by moving some jobs out of London to cheaper locations such as Leeds. This process may well continue to lower costs but some fundamental questions about costs may need to be tackled.