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UK Financial Markets Regulator Warns About Unregistered Crypto-Asset Firms: Report
The FCA is warning consumers, banks and payment services about dealing with unregistered crypto-asset firms.
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 1:15 p.m. Published Jun 23, 2021, 12:01 p.m.
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The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority said there are 111 unregistered crypto-asset firms operating in the country and they pose a risk to the broader financial system, according to a Reuters report.
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- The FCA said that since January when it was appointed as anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing supervisor of crypto-asset firms, it has become compulsory for businesses to obtain full registration before they can begin trading.
- “We have a number of firms that are clearly doing business in the U.K. without being registered with us and they are dealing with someone: banks, payment services firm, consumers,” Mark Steward, the FCA’s head of enforcement and market oversight, said at an event organized by City & Financial Global, a conference and webinar firm, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
- Steward said the regulatory body is the concerned about the unregistered crypto-asset firms operating because they pose a “very real risk.”
- Of the estimated almost 2.5 million Britons who hold crypto assets, many are new investors and aren't very knowledgeable about the associated risks, he said.
Read more: UK’s AML Rules Could Force Up to 50 Crypto Firms to Cease Trading: Report
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