The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Britain’s financial regulator, has extended the temporary registration status to some crypto-service providers past its Friday deadline. In a statement on Tuesday, the FCA said that the UK will only allow a limited number of crypto firms to continue to hold temporary registration status.
The financial regulator stated that temporarily exempting crypto companies from the Friday deadline did not mean that they were “fit and proper.” It also included situations where a company may be “pursuing an appeal” as well as being in the process or winding down.
According to the FCA, only registered firms or those on its list with temporary registrations can continue trading. All other businesses must have ceased trading as of January 10 of this year. Firms that continue trading after the deadline are subject to the FCA’s civil and criminal enforcement power.
The FCA approved 33 registrations of crypto companies from August 2020. These were in compliance with UK laws regarding anti-money laundering (AML) and combating financing terrorism (CFT) for handling funds transfers. A number of companies were also granted temporary registration status by the financial regulator until Friday. The FCA is expected to then decide on their validity.
There were 12 firms that are allowed to carry out cryptocurrency asset activities, per the FCA temporary status. Among these are popular options, including CEX.IO, Revolut and Copper. While the financial watchdog did not specify a new deadline by which a firm’s registration should be approved or declined, they previously extended the review period to July 2021 through March 2022.
Numerous crypto companies withdrew FCA registrations following the regulator’s apparent crackdown on AML/CFT compliance for 2020. The agency ordered Bitcoin ATM operators to shut down on March 13. This was due to the FCA’s apparent crackdown on AML/CFT compliance in 2020.
