The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK’s top financial regulator, says the US and UK will work more closely together on crypto regulation.” In the past, innovative firms would have begged for less regulation. Now they understand and appreciate that the rules are there to help provide certainty,” the UK regulator said.
The U.S. and the U.S. will strengthen their cooperation on crypto regulation
Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority, outlined the FCA’s regulatory goals Wednesday at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
“One area of global focus is crypto, both opportunity and risk.” The FCA chief said.” Currently, our mandate is limited to the platform’s anti-money laundering rules. We are applying those strict rules as we would to any other firm wishing to operate in the UK market.”
The regulator added:
the U.S. and the U.K. will work more closely together on crypto asset regulation and market development, including those related to the exploration of stablecoin and central bank digital currencies.
Rati continued by mentioning the “Crypto Sprint” that the FCA held earlier this year, which attracted about 200 participants. As the FCA explains on its website, “The purpose of the event was to seek industry input on the current market and the design of an appropriate regulatory regime.”
The Chief Financial Regulation Officer explained.
Participants said they wanted a regulatory regime for crypto assets as a high priority … They also want regulation phased in over time so that companies and investors can be prepared and adapt to evolving crypto assets.
“In the past, innovative firms would have begged for less regulation. Now they understand and appreciate that regulations are there to help provide certainty,” he opined.
The FCA Director noted that.
we are empirically supporting responsible use cases for the underlying technology while ensuring that appropriate consumer protections and market integrity are not sacrificed.
In May, the UK government outlined its legislative agenda for the next parliamentary year in the Queen’s Speech. One piece of legislation aims to support “the secure adoption of cryptocurrencies and resilient outsourcing to technology providers.” Another seeks to create “authority to more quickly and easily seize and recover crypto assets, the primary medium used for ransomware.”
Additionally, in April, the UK government announced a detailed plan to make the country a global crypto hub, “a place where crypto is hospitable.” The plan includes establishing a dynamic regulatory framework for crypto, regulating stablecoins, and working with the Royal Mint to create a non-ghosted token (NFT) to be issued by the summer.
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