The move means the FCA’s Annual Public Meeting, which usually follows publication of the Annual Report and Accounts, has also been delayed.

It’s understood delays in the National Audit Office auditing the accounts have affected the publication of the Annual Report this month.

The Annual Public Meeting will now be a virtual meeting with attendees able to watch and ask questions online.

No official date has been set for the meeting but the watchdog says it expects it to take place later in September.

The regulator said today: “The Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for the National Audit Office in completing the audit of the FCA’s financial statements, as well as those of other public bodies, in the usual timeframe.

“This means we will be unable to lay the document in Parliament in July. In response to the challenges caused by the pandemic affecting a number of other government entities, HM Treasury has announced a general extension to the filing deadline to 30 September.

“In line with HM Treasury and other similarly affected public bodies, we will now be publishing our Annual Report and Accounts for 2019/2020 in September.”