Press Room
Zoe Wyatt comments on crypto regulation in the FT, Bloomberg UK, and City AM
Partner and Head of Crypto and Digital Assets, Zoe Wyatt, discusses the UK’s plan to regulate crypto in line with traditional finance in the Financial Times (online and in print), Bloomberg UK, City AM, Professional Adviser, Investment Week, and The National UK.
Zoe’s comments were published in Bloomberg UK, City AM, and Investment Week, 1 February 2023, Professional Adviser, 2 February 2023, the Financial Times, both online and in print, 3 February 2023, and The National UK, 7 February 2023.
“Temporarily backtracking on the plan to align promotion of cryptoassets in the UK with standards applied to promotion of stocks and shares is only applicable to companies that already have an AML licence in the UK.
“85% of UK web3 projects cannot obtain the AML licence due to uncertainty of requirements and process, and capacity at the FCA (i.e. the backtrack is of no help).
“These companies have been driven offshore and the proposed extension of financial promotion rules to cryptoassets will drive the people functions offshore too and/or stifle innovation. Making registration difficult in the UK runs against the Government’s stated ambition to protect customers as action may need to be sought outside the UK courts system. Customers seeking to recover their funds from the failed exchanges of FTX and Celcius are finding out this is adding significant costs and complexity.
“By the government’s own admission it will be two years before any meaningful change to the UK regulatory regime for cryptoassets and we fear that the UK’s desire to be a global crypto hub will be usurped by another faster acting jurisdiction. The UK is taking baby steps whilst the EU and US surge ahead.”
