# UK financial watchdog urges political support for crypto bans
Author:  Pal Sinha, Barnali 
Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali
Published: 2022-11-16
Category: NEWS
Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/news
Meta Title: FCA calls on lawmakers to support decision on crypto
Meta Description: The FCA faces backlash for rejecting crypto exchange licences, amid pressure to maintain regulatory control over crypto trading firms like FTX and Binance in a
URL: https://financedigest.com/uk-financial-watchdog-urges-political-support-for-crypto-banshtml

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By Huw Jones

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on Tuesday called on lawmakers to show their support for its unpopular decision not to grant licences to scores of crypto exchanges like FTX, which has just collapsed.

The FCA has come under pressure as 85% of licence applications from crypto trading firms have either been rejected or withdrawn, the watchdog’s chief executive Nikhil Rathi said.

Crypto exchanges like leader Binance, and FTX, cannot operate in Britain as they don’t have FCA approval for their [anti-money laundering](https://www.financedigest.com/anti-money-laundering-time-to-take-a-new-approach.html "ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING: TIME TO TAKE A NEW APPROACH?") controls.

The FCA is set to have a new objective of keeping Britain a globally competitive financial centre, piling pressure on the watchdog to keep its [doors open](https://www.financedigest.com/lack-of-electric-vans-opens-door-for-chinese-other-ev-makers.html "Lack of electric vans opens door for Chinese, other EV makers").

We have taken quite a bit of heat from people [saying we are allowing](https://www.financedigest.com/amazon-may-be-responsible-for-allowing-louboutin-knock-off-ads-eu-court-says.html "Amazon may be responsible for allowing Louboutin knock-off ads, EU court says") this innovative activity to move to other jurisdictions, and that other jurisdictions are stealing a march,” FCA chief executive Nikhil Rathi told a committee in parliament’s upper chamber, the House of Lords.

That means sometimes [turning down some of the largest players in the global](https://www.financedigest.com/how-to-turn-a-uk-startup-into-a-global-success.html "How to turn a UK startup into a global success ") market.

[FTX obtained a now suspended licence from the Cyprus regulator](https://www.financedigest.com/bahamas-regulator-holds-ftx-assets-pending-delivery-to-customers-creditors.html "Bahamas regulator holds FTX assets pending delivery to customers, creditors"). Binance has obtained [approval from some EU member state regulators](https://www.financedigest.com/eu-regulator-hopes-to-approve-covid-variant-adapted-vaccines-by-autumn.html "EU regulator hopes to approve COVID variant-adapted vaccines by autumn").

Rathi said he stood by [decisions to ban such platforms](https://www.financedigest.com/fico-provides-decisioning-platform-for-smartphone-only-buddybank-in-italy.html "FICO Provides Decisioning Platform for Smartphone-Only buddybank in Italy").

That does [require](https://www.financedigest.com/encompass-and-nikkei-media-marketing-partner-to-support-firms-with-know-your-customer-requirements.html "encompass and Nikkei Media Marketing partner to support firms with Know Your Customer requirements") I think to have parliamentary support and political support when we take some of those robust decisions,” he said.

There are no consumer protections for crypto investments, and the FCA has no information on how much [money UK consumers have put into cryptoasset platforms](https://www.financedigest.com/fiat-republic-the-specialist-baas-platform-that-bridges-the-gap-between-web3-and-traditional-banks-announces-it-has-become-an-electronic-money-institution-emi-in-the-uk.html "Fiat Republic, the specialist BaaS platform that bridges the gap between web3 and traditional banks, announces it has become an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) in the UK.") operated overseas.

If they want to they can go all around the world and deposit money by [credit card](https://www.financedigest.com/uk-credit-card-borrowing-rises-by-most-since-2005-boe.html "UK credit card borrowing rises by most since 2005 – BoE") that we don’t track, and we have no means of tracking it,” Rathi said.

Cryptoassets are unregulated in Britain, but a new financial services and markets [bill now being approved by parliament is expected to bring marketing of cryptoassets under the regulatory net](https://www.financedigest.com/44-of-uk-households-are-worried-theyll-have-to-foot-the-bill-for-net-zero.html "44% of UK Households are Worried They’ll Have to Foot the Bill for Net Zero"), giving the FCA powers to protect consumers.

(Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Mark Potter)


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