The UK's FCA Sends Final Warning as Crypto Regulation Deadline Nears

<p>As the 8
October 2023 deadline approaches for activating the new financial
promotions regime for digital assets, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority
(FCA) issued its last advisory warning today (Thursday), urging crypto
companies targeting UK consumers to brace for the forthcoming regulatory
adjustments.</p><p>UK Government Tightens
Regulations on Cryptoasset Promotions</p><p>The UK
Government has recently enacted legislation to regulate the promotion of
cryptoassets to consumers. The move aims to protect Britons from making
high-risk investments without adequate information. The new financial promotion
regime will apply to all firms <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/m/marketing/">marketing</a> crypto assets in the UK, including
those based overseas.</p><p>In light of the approaching date for implementing new regulations and the fact that cryptocurrency companies are facing '<a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/fca-crypto-firms-face-significant-challenges-ahead-of-financial-promotions-regime/" target="_blank" rel="follow">significant challenges</a>' in preparing for their rollout, the FCA issued a final warning. The authors of the warning are Lucy Castledine, the Director of Consumer Investment, and Matthew Long, the Director of Payments and digital Assets, both at the Supervision, Policy and Competition Department of the FCA.</p><p><a href="https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/correspondence/final-warning-cryptoasset-firms-marketing-consumers.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">According
to the warning</a>, firms that believe they will be in breach of the new
regulations must urgently reconsider their position. The FCA strongly
recommends that firms seek legal advice to avoid committing a criminal offense
and exposing themselves to potential enforcement action. The new regime is not
intended to harm consumers by restricting their access to existing assets but
aims to prevent further high-risk investment activity.</p><p>"We
expect those supporting unregistered crypto asset firms illegally promoting to
take their responsibilities seriously and to play their part in protecting UK
consumers," the FCA commented.</p><p>The FCA <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/institutional-forex/fca-cracks-down-on-rogue-financial-promotions-among-trading-firms/" target="_blank" rel="follow">recently disclosed statistics</a> concerning financial promotions for the second quarter of the year, spanning from April to June 2023. The information revealed that actions taken by the FCA resulted in 1,507 promotions being either modified or retracted by entities under its regulation. Moreover, the FCA sent out 400 warnings to firms and persons operating without authorization, with 11% of these being clone alerts.</p><p>However, companies
had plenty of time to prepare for the upcoming changes. The FCA first announced
them in January 2022, and then in February 2023, the UK government released a
document <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/uk-moves-to-regulate-crypto-for-better-consumer-protection/" target="_blank" rel="follow">clarifying the necessary details</a>. At the same time, <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/fca-seeks-crypto-firms-preparedness-for-upcoming-promotions-regime/" target="_blank" rel="follow">the regulator was
assessing</a> how well-prepared companies were for the changes taking effect in
October, offering potential assistance.</p><blockquote><p lang="en" dir="ltr">New <a href="https://twitter.com/hmtreasury?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@hmtreasury</a> and FCA papers set out new rules for the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/marketing?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#marketing</a> of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cryptoassets?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#cryptoassets</a> relating to the financial promotion regime. <a href="https://twitter.com/CMS_law?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CMS_law</a>'s article is a good overview of the changing guidance and how new <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/regulation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#regulation</a> will impact UK firms <a href="https://t.co/pTsM701NeO">https://t.co/pTsM701NeO</a></p>— Greengage (@GreengageCo) <a href="https://twitter.com/GreengageCo/status/1486353896763232259?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 26, 2022</a></blockquote><p>What Does the New Regime
Cover?</p><p>The
financial promotion regime is designed to be broad, covering communications
made through websites or apps. It is expected that most, if not all,
cryptoasset firms providing services to UK consumers will fall under this new
<a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/r/regulation/">regulation</a>. The regime aims to ensure that consumers make investment decisions
based on fair and accurate information, fostering a more
consumer-centric landscape for firms to compete and innovate.</p><p>The primary
objective of the new regime is to protect consumers from making ill-informed
decisions about high-risk investments like crypto assets. The UK Government
believes that consumers should have access to accurate information to make
effective investment choices. The rules applied to cryptoasset promotions are
consistent with those for other high-risk investments.</p><p>Firms that
fail to comply with the new regime could face severe consequences, including
criminal charges. Penalties may include up to two years in prison, unlimited
fines, or both. The UK's FCA will take robust action against firms found to be
in breach of the new regulations, including placing them on a 'Warning List'
and taking steps to remove or block any illegal financial promotions.</p><p>Intermediaries
such as social media platforms, search engines, and payment firms also have a
role to play in this new regulatory landscape. </p><p>"Additionally,
once in force, the Online Safety Bill (OSB) will place duties on search engines
and social media companies to put in place systems and processes to mitigate
the risks to users posed by the presence and dissemination of illegal content
on their sites, including illegal financial promotions," the document
explained.</p><p>In the
meantime, <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/" target="_blank" rel="follow">Finance Magnates</a> revealed that the FCA had established
specific guidelines for crypto firms in the UK concerning adherence to the '<a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/uk-crypto-firms-brace-for-compliance-as-fca-sets-deadline-for-travel-rule-implementation/" target="_blank" rel="follow">Travel
Rule</a>'. Effective 1 September 2023, crypto companies in the nation must comply
with the new set of rules, which necessitates the gathering, validating, and
disseminating of crucial data associated with crypto asset transfers.</p>

This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.