The UK Monetary Conduct Authority (FCA)’s current anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist funding (AML/CTF) efforts have centered closely on crypto.
The UK Treasury mentioned in a Could 1 report that the FCA considers crypto corporations — like retail and wholesale banks and wealth administration corporations — to be “significantly weak” to monetary crime and on the highest danger for exploitation by way of cash laundering.
Elevated focus
The report highlighted that the FCA has elevated its give attention to the crypto business in recent times. In 2022 and 2023, the FCA devoted the equal of 52.8 full-time monetary crime specialists to AML/CTF, whereas 15.8 full-time staff, or 30%, had been allotted towards supervising crypto companies.
The company’s monetary crime specialists performed 231 desk-based critiques and 7 onsite visits. Different supervisory groups opened an extra 375 circumstances, which included 95 circumstances associated to crypto.
The FCA prolonged new necessities to the crypto sector, together with monetary crime reporting (REP-CRIM) obligations. It used REP-CRIM information with different info, together with however not restricted to crypto blockchain analytics, for improved danger identification and focused interventions.
The FCA started to behave because the AML supervisor for crypto companies, together with exchanges and custodial wallets, in January 2020. The most recent report notes that the company’s “sturdy evaluation course of” led to quite a few rejections and withdrawals amongst candidates, enhancing confidence in firms that gained approval and demonstrated sturdy controls.
Broader UK crypto regulation
The most recent report critiques previous actions but additionally appears to the long run.
Charlotte Vere, Baroness Vere of Norbiton, wrote that the FCA will quickly announce particulars in regards to the supervisory system’s future construction in gentle of a 2023 session. She mentioned:
“We … are centered on delivering an formidable and significant programme of adjustments to AML/CTF supervision.”
Modifications within the space comply with different regulatory and enforcement developments within the UK. In late April, UK police gained new powers to grab crypto, and in October 2023, the FCA launched a strict crypto promotion and promoting regime.
The UK can also be exploring extra permissive insurance policies, equivalent to a regulatory sandbox, which allows firms to make use of digital ledger expertise (DLT) underneath modified guidelines and laws.
