Cryptocurrencies: Registration

(asked on 7th July 2021) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Financial Conduct Authority’s recent extension of the Temporary Registration Regime for cryptoasset businesses.


Answered by
John Glen Portrait
John Glen
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
This question was answered on 15th July 2021

The FCA’s competition objective, as set out in section 1E of the Financial Services and Market Act 2000 (FSMA), requires the FCA to promote effective competition in the interests of consumers in markets for regulated financial services. Activities relating to cryptoassets do not constitute regulated financial services, except where a cryptoasset qualifies as a Specified Investment under the Regulated Activities Order or is e-Money. The FCA’s competition objective therefore does not apply with respect to most markets for cryptoassets. Where a cryptoasset is a Specified Investment or e-Money, the cryptoasset business should already have been registered with the FCA for anti-money laundering supervision, independently of the new supervisory regime for cryptoasset businesses.

The FCA’s decision to extend the Temporary Registration Regime for cryptoasset businesses to 31 March 2022 will allow firms that are currently on the temporary register to continue operating whilst their applications are assessed, and preserve consumers’ access to a range of cryptoasset firms in the intervening period. This strikes an appropriate balance between mitigating the risk of money laundering in the cryptoasset sector, and ensuring that cryptoasset businesses based in the UK, and the customers they serve, are not subject to undue disruption.

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