The CryptoUK Digital Asset Trading Association has called on the UK Treasury Secretary to act on delays in the registration process for startups with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
CryptoUK is a self-regulatory association established in 2018 and representing over 50 companies in the cryptoasset industry. In a letter to UK Treasury Secretary Rishi Sunak posted on the CryptoUK website, Group Chairman Ian Taylor said the UK is “missing an important opportunity.”
Cryptocurrency companies trying to register with the FCA under the new regulatory regime have faced a “difficult process”, and most of the firms belonging to the association have not yet received a response from the regulator. Taylor claims that so far, only four of the two hundred applications filed with the FCA have been decided.
“Some have been waiting for more than eight months and have not received a single letter from the regulator,” said the chairman of CryptoUK.
Since the FCA became the anti-money laundering and terrorist financing supervisor in January last year, it introduced a Money Laundering Registration (MLR) regulatory regime that requires companies operating in cryptoassets to register with the regulator.
In December, the FCA acknowledged that the regulator is pending many applications from already operating companies. In this regard, the Financial Conduct Authority has established a temporary registration regime for cryptocurrency companies until July 9, 2021.
Taylor writes: “The countdown is on as we approach a new deadline in July that would require existing firms without registration by law to stop trading. In addition, hundreds of new businesses have waited months to finalize their applications. They are faced with rising personnel costs and overheads that prevent them from trading and making a profit. ”
The current situation is in favor of larger funding organizations that may “wait out the registration process.” Taylor warned that some businesses could either leave the UK or stop trading, which would be a blow to the country’s economy.
“While our industry understands that it takes time to implement new regulatory regimes, the industry faces significant challenges that go deeper than those disclosed by the FCA,” Taylor said.
