UK regulator warns of 111 unregistered crypto companies …

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned consumers about 111 crypto companies that are not registered with the FCA.

As of January 10, all UK-based crypto companies must comply with anti-money laundering and terrorist financing laws and register with the FCA to operate legally. Many people still have to do this.

Mark Steward, chief enforcement officer of the FCA, stated at the Cities & Finance Cities Week event on June 22nd that unregulated crypto companies pose and pose a threat to consumers, banks and payment companies who do business with them states that:

“We have a number of companies that are clearly doing business in the UK that are not registered with us and deal with someone: a bank, a payment services company, a consumer. This is a very real risk so we are very concerned. “

The FCA has compiled a list of over 100 crypto companies that appear to be unregistered so investors can double-check that the company they are trying to do business with is not compliant.

The financial watchdog appears to be on the lookout for the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies in the UK. According to a recent FCA survey, 2.3 million adults in the UK currently own crypto. However, there has been a notable downward trend in investors’ overall understanding of the crypto-assets they own.

Comparing the rise of the crypto industry to the Dutch tulip mania of the 1630s, Steward found that the fear of missing out (FOMO) leads many to speculate in digital assets.

“The reason a lot of people are investing now is because they fear missing out on a boom. Aside from how fickle these instruments really are, it writes about the fascination of tulips. “

Operational hurdles from UK’s stringent anti-money laundering laws could put many of these unregistered companies out of business, as Cointelegraph reported on June 4 that so far 51 crypto firms have withdrawn their applications with the FCA.

The UK government is actively trying to curb criminal behavior using cryptocurrencies such as money laundering and terrorist financing.

According to The Times UK, the London Metro Police earlier this month called for a law change to allow authorities to access cryptocurrencies in a manner similar to cash-based crimes.

Metro Police are reportedly calling on lawmakers to allow the freezing of crypto assets owned by companies and individuals under investigation by the police, while demanding tough regulations that will make it harder for criminals to conduct more electronic money transfers.

Connected: Cryptocurrency and “stock memes” are eschewed by 90% of UK financial advisors

Careful FCA

The FCA has taken a very cautious approach to cryptocurrencies, with the state regulator imposing a ban on crypto derivative platforms in January and also warning investors of the risks associated with cryptocurrencies in the same month.

The FCA was appointed custodian of anti-money laundering and terrorist financing measures on January 10, 2021, and as of that date, all crypto-asset companies based in the UK must comply with AML regulations and register with the FCA.

Companies operating before January 10 this year must apply for the Temporary Registration Regime (TRR), which allows companies to continue trading while the FCA processes their full registration which is under scrutiny.

The lack of processing due to the global pandemic has led to a backlog in the processing of applications and the FCA announced on June 3 that the last date for the provisional registration had been extended from July 2021 to March 2022.