"Resourcing," according to the British Financial Conduct Authority's report on page 15, has remained "largely fixed," but this is not the case for the salaries of board members which have sky-rocketed.

In the year ending on 31 March 2015, CEO Martin Wheatley earnt £701,000, a combination of £460,000 basic salary, £92,000 in performance-related pay (despite his underwhelming performance during the Adamson scandal), £108,000 in 'other benefits', and £41,000 in pension contributions. His total for the year to 31 March 2014, according to the tally table, was £620,000. His total earnings for the year just gone are up 13% on those of the previous year in a period of (according to official figures) trifling inflation. Wheatley is not a member of the FCA’s pension plan and received a non-pensionable supplement in lieu of pension contributions.

Clive Adamson himself resigned from the FCA board in January 2015. In line with his contractual entitlement, he continued to be employed until 31st May. His salary and benefits include these contractual amounts payable (£50,000 in salary and £4,000 in benefits) to 31 May 2015. In total, then, the report lists the figure for his basic salary for the year 31 March 2014 to 31 May 2015 at 350,000 (up from £271,000 in 2014), no performance-related pay for 2015 or 2014, 34,000 in 'other benefits' (up £4,000 on last year), and £53,000 in pension contributions (up from £43,000 last year). His total FCA remuneration leapt from £364,000 in 2013-14 to £438,000 in 2014-15, roughly a 20% increase.

Rising star Tracey McDermott, formerly the head of enforcement and now Adamson's replacement as head of supervision, did well for herself also. She did not take up her new post until April, safely outside the remuneration period covered by the report. In the year up to 31 March 2015, McDermott earnt £475,000, up from £329,000 the previous year - a staggering rise of some 45% which is to be explained by a rise in both basic salary and performance-related pay.

Lesley Titcomb served as the Chief Operating Officer of the Financial Services/Conduct Authority between 2010 and 2 March 2015, leading the transition between the regimes. She immediately took up the mantle of chief executive at the Pensions Regulator, where her full-time salary band is only £200,000 - £210,000, of which the report and accounts say she has already earnt the enigmatic sum of "£15,000 - 20,000".

This is something of a comedown, as the FCA report and accounts show her earning a basic salary of £250,000 in the year to 31 March 2015. In that year she earnt no performance-related pay (she had earnt £34,000 in the year to 31 March 2014), £24,000 in 'other benefits', and her pension contributions were £30,000 in the year just gone and £41,000 in the previous one.

Her departure is surprising because she chose to go after 20 years at the FCA and its predecessor bodies, thereby exhibiting considerable dedication to her organisation. Commentators are wondering why she chose to leave now, and ostensibly for less pay. Was she pushed, or did she feel passed over for some kind of promotion or some other benediction?

Interestingly, while this was going on, the FCA increased its permanent staff costs from £216.5 in 2013-14 to £261.4 in 2014-15, but it slashed its other staff costs (perhaps temporary workers) from £13.3 million to £7.7 million.

Composition of the board

The composition of the FCA's board is set out in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and, consistent with those requirements, comprised the following at the outset of the reporting period:

• a chairperson and a chief executive appointed by the Treasury;
• the Bank of England Deputy Governor for prudential regulation;
• two non-executive directors appointed jointly by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Treasury; and
• three executive directors and four non-executive directors appointed by the Treasury.

Despite this, members of the FCA board habitually refer to "the Government" as though it were a separate entity for which they do not work.

Other figures

The number of firms that the FCA regulates has ballooned from 26,000 to more than 73,000, largely due to it taking over the regulation of the consumer credit industry. This was bound to take its toll on the regulator's bottom line.

There was an increase in administrative costs of £52.8 million between the last two accounting years, from £469.8 million to £522.6 million. The loss (or overspending or 'deficit') for the year was £24.9 million, massively greater than the £2.9 million of the year before. Later in the report the FCA expands the amount it reckons to have been 'lost' to £58.3m and says that it was "in line with expectations."

This new calcuation of its annual 'loss' contained the previously quoted loss (£24.9 million, incurred for consumer credit activities) plus an actuarial loss of £33.4 million (in 2014 that was lower, at £26.4m) in respect of the FCA defined benefit pension scheme. The increase in the actuarial loss was due mainly to the discount rate decrease from 4.40% to 3.40% over the year.

IT costs remained static at about £91.7 million. Professional costs (lawyers and accountants), however, leapt from £26.5 million in 2013-14 to £41.6 million in 2014-15.