The FCA recently published the results of its research on digital asset companies.. The regulator's report indicates that the key personnel of most companies lack the appropriate knowledge, skills and experience to effectively control risks and comply with minimum standards for combating money laundering and terrorist financing.
The FCA also commented on the situation with the FTX exchange. Given that FTX did not hold an FCA license allowing the exchange to legally operate in the UK, this makes it difficult to accurately assess the negative impact of the FTX collapse on the British, the agency explained.. At the same time, public documents in the FTX bankruptcy case indicate that 8% of the international client base of the exchange is in the UK.. Based on this data, the regulator concluded that out of about a million FTX creditors, 80,000 are British investors.
West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin added that the UK government is actively developing rules to regulate the cryptocurrency industry.. However, the statistics provided by the FCA do not relieve the legislators of the impression that crypto assets represent the “Wild West”.
The UK Parliament is considering a bill on financial services and markets, partly regulating cryptocurrencies. This bill will expand the FCA's oversight of digital assets in line with the agency's authority over traditional securities.. Right now, these powers are limited to checking whether crypto companies are implementing anti-money laundering (AML) mechanisms.. The bill is expected to come into force by spring 2023.
Recall that in August, the Crypto.com trading platform became one of the few companies that received FCA permission to provide cryptocurrency services to UK citizens.