(3)Given that firms make use of tied agents and the business carried out through tied agents exposes those firms to risks in the same manner as the business carried out by the firms themselves, appropriate rules on the own funds requirements for firms based on fixed overheads should provide for the inclusion of costs relating to tied agents to reflect those risks. Nevertheless, given that costs related to tied agents have some element of variability but cannot be considered a fully variable cost item but it would be disproportionate to include the full amount of the costs related to tied agents to the own funds requirements, these rules should provide for the inclusion only of a percentage of these costs in the own funds requirements. Further, in order to avoid double-counting of amounts relating to tied agent fees, these rules should provide for the deduction of the fees related to tied agents before the addition of this percentage to the own funds requirements.