AMI chief executive Robert Sinclair branded Financial Conduct Authority bosses as “out of touch” before it was announced that Martin Wheatley will be axed as the regulator’s chief executive in September.

Sinclair was addressing the regulator’s decision to press on with 8.4% adviser fee increases and at the same time offer Wheatley a performance bonus after the regulator spent £3.2m on unnecessary software licences.

Wheatley may have paid for the mistake after all, as it was announced last week that he will leave the regulator in September after Chancellor George Osborne decided not to renew his contract.

Sinclair, writing in July’s edition of Mortgage Introducer, said: “I cannot leave this article without expressing serious concern over the latest Financial Conduct Authority fees consultation.

“All of the valid points put forward by over 70 organisations were ignored by the regulator. In dismissing all of the points raised and continuing with the significant increases in fees, I am concerned that the senior levels of the FCA are out of touch with industry sentiment.

“My member firms would not be paying a performance bonus to a chief executive who presided over spending £3.2m on unrequired software licences.

“At least we know that our regulator won’t be going bust in the foreseeable future since “the FCA’s strong fee covenants are underpinned by the statutory powers granted to it to raise fees to fund its and the PSR’s regulatory activities”. Or to put that into simple English they can continue to escalate their fees as much as is needed to support their lifestyles.”