Debt management firms will be required to hold a minimum amount of capital when they come under the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) regulatory regime next April. The capital requirements for debt management firms, as set out in the regulator’s consultation today (3 October), will also apply to some large not-for-profit debt advice firms. These companies will have to hold either £5,000 or 0.25% of the amount of debt they are managing, whichever is higher. Under the proposals for the consumer credit industry, debt management firms will be expected to have a compliance oversight function when the FCA takes over from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in April 2014. The regulator has confirmed that profit-seeking debt management companies and not-for-profit providers of debt advice will only need to have a director or senior manager approved to carry out a “client asset operational oversight” function if the firm holds £1m or more of client money.....Read more here