Registration Statistics: British Regulator Approves Just 13% Of Crypto Firm Applications - What’s Going On?
UK’s financial regulator says it has approved only 13% of the total applications by cryptocurrency companies for registration with the body.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has disclosed that from January 2020, only 38 applications have scaled through out of 291 since it started the new registration process.
The recent statistics come as the FCA published its response to an anonymous right-to-know request about the status of its registration process so far.
The financial watchdog explained that although it has only approved 38 out of 291 applications, a majority of firms voluntarily withdrew their filings as the body encourages resubmissions if all requirements are not met at the time of filing.
“Firms are required to provide the minimum information set out under regulation 57 of the MLRs, any firm that has not provided the required information will have their application rejected.”
The body further noted that it refused 5 applications due to non-compliance of the firm with the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLRs).
An additional 22 applications were rejected based on their failure to update the FCA with the provisions of Regulation 57 of the MLR.
The reasons cited by the body ranged from lack of complete requirements to voluntary withdrawals. It is worth noting that the FCA’s registration process has come under scrutiny from observers with many describing it as “too harsh” amid a wider regulatory crackdown.
While the financial regulator seeks to establish a strict regulatory regime to protect investors amid the growing rate of digital asset scams, the whole process has left certain companies at a disadvantage.
Philip Hammond, the chairman of
Read more on cryptonews.com
