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The UK is finalizing plans to implement sweeping regulations for the cryptocurrency industry, the Financial Times reported.
If approved, the Financial Conduct Authority will have new powers to oversee the digital-assets industry more broadly, including monitoring how companies operate and advertise.
Officials are working urgently after last month’s collapse of FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange once valued at more than $30 billion.
The UK is finalizing plans to implement sweeping regulations for the cryptocurrency industry, reports said, with officials working urgently after last month’s collapse of FTX, once the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange.
The package will include limits on foreign companies selling into the UK and restrictions on product advertising, the Financial Times reported on Monday.
The Financial Conduct Authority will have new powers to oversee the digital-assets industry more broadly, including monitoring how companies operate and advertise, the report said, citing three unnamed sources familiar with the UK Treasury’s thinking.
The new powers will be part of broader financial services and markets legislation working its way through parliament that underpins the country’s approach to financial regulation following Brexit.
This year, the FCA started inspecting money-laundering controls at UK-based crypto companies, but the agency has lacked broader powers in areas such as fraud and mismanagement and other areas of customer protection.
The rules package also includes provisions on how to deal with the collapse of companies. The crypto industry is currently weathering a storm centered around the implosion of FTX following a run on its deposits after questions were raised about its relationship with sister firm Alameda Research and its handling of customer funds.
Ministers will launch consultation on the new regulatory regime shortly, the FT reported.
Separately, Bloomberg reported the UK government on Friday is set to announce a package aimed at supporting growth in financial services and the City of London. Last week, City Minister Andrew Griffith said the UK sees an opportunity in fiat-backed stablecoins.
The UK began crypto-legislation consultation in 2021. Last year, then-finance minister Rishi Sunak said the country was exploring the possibility of a stablecoin dubbed “britcoin”. Sunak was appointed as the UK’s prime minister in October.