The proposed amended bill addresses stablecoin regulation from the beginning. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK will be empowered to regulate activities with crypto assets if the amended bill passes.
An amendment to the Financial Services and Markets Bill would extend the law’s powers to regulate financial promotion and other activities to crypto assets. There have been previous concerns of cryptocurrency marketing strategies and the rise of scams.
According to the explanatory statement accompanying the amendment, it would “clarify that the powers relating to financial promotion and regulated activities can be relied on to regulate cryptoassets and activities relating to cryptoassets.” The FCA published a “Dear Chief Executive” letter on 9 August 2022, which detailed its supervisory strategy over financial firms’ so-called "alternatives portfolio." The letter stated: “We will publish final rules for the promotion of crypto assets once the Treasury formalises legislation to bring these into our remit.”
Most crypto-related businesses in the U.K. are not regulated by the FCA at the moment, however, they have the option of applying for registration and will be required to do so in 2023. The FCA also took action on the advertising of high-risk financial products in August, and explicitly stated that crypto assets can be risky but the agency was not yet regulating them.
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