Cryptocurrency firm linked to Philip Hammond still lacks UK approval

theguardian.com:

The former chancellor Philip Hammond could see the value of his stake in the cryptocurrency firm Copper plunge after the company suffered a blow to its hopes of winning approval to operate in the UK, forcing it to explore a move to Switzerland.

The Guardian understands that Hammond, recruited by Copper Technologies as a “senior adviser” in 2021, has “growth shares” that could be worth up to 0.5% of the company, implying a notional value of $15m after its most recent fundraising valued it at $3bn.

The Conservative peer, who was chancellor between July 2016 and July 2019, has been a vocal advocate of the UK embracing digital assets. Earlier this year he said it was “frankly quite shocking” that Britain was lagging behind other countries in creating a regulatory framework for crypto.

Copper is now struggling to negotiate the threadbare regulatory regime for crypto that already exists, putting its fundraising plans – and the value of Hammond’s stake – at risk.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which recently launched a hunt for a head of digital assets, requires crypto firms to apply to be registered, meaning they must prove that they have sufficient anti money-laundering controls in place.

The regulator has granted full approval to 34 firms and rejected dozens that could not show that they had met sufficient standards, either because they missed red flags for money laundering or “do not have the controls necessary to raise red flags in the first place”.

A smaller group of 12, including Copper, was placed on a list of firms with “temporary registration”, meaning that they were permitted to trade pending the outcome of their application.

Despite the FCA granting an extension to the deadline for applications, to the end of March