UK Watchdog Eyes Extension of Money Laundering Risk Reporting to Crypto Firms
The Financial Conduct Authority is seeking to oblige more firms, including some working with cryptocurrency, to report how they manage the risks of financial crime.
:format(jpg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/coindesk/R5MF5PTZTZCWLHI6QVDHJZNL4Y.jpg)
City of London, UK
/arc-photo-coindesk/arc2-prod/public/LXF2COBSKBCNHNRE3WTK2BZ7GE.png)
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), a U.K. regulator, is seeking to oblige more firms, including some working with cryptocurrency, to report how they manage the risks of financial crime.
- In a consultation paper published Monday, the FCA said under the expanded scope of its financial crime reporting obligation it would require crypto exchanges and wallet providers to provide detailed information annually on systems and controls put in place to tackle crimes such as money laundering.
- The regulator said that currently only 2,500 out of the roughly 23,000 firms under its oversight must provide such data, including banks, building societies and mortgage providers.
- Aside from crypto firms, the extended measure would include entities such as all companies regulated by the Financial Services and Markets Authority, payment providers, electric money institutions and multilateral and organized trading facilities.
- The FCA said the extra information the reporting would provide would enable it to be more "date led" in its supervision and widen its insight into firms that may carry money laundering risks.
- The consultation period is open for feedback from interested parties until Nov. 23, 2020.
- In June, the U.K. government said it was looking to increase oversight into cryptocurrency promotions in order to protect investors, with the new supervisory role falling to the FCA.
Disclosure
Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.
The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, institutional digital assets exchange. Bullish group is majority owned by Block.one; both groups have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary, and an editorial committee, chaired by a former editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal, is being formed to support journalistic integrity.
Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.