UK Set to Ban Cold Calls Selling Financial Products, Including Crypto
The move is part of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's strategy to tackle financial fraud in the country.
May 3, 2023 at 9:26 a.m. UTC
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The U.K. government is set to ban cold calls to sell financial products including crypto, according to a Wednesday announcement.
Fraud makes up over 40% of crime in the country, and costs the U.K. government 7 billion British pounds (US$8.8 billion) a year, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in the statement. The country wants to crack down on fraud and scams, and is setting up a National Fraud Squad to tackle related crime with 400 new posts.
"We will ban cold calls on all financial products, so that anyone who receives calls trying to sell them products such as cryptocurrency schemes or insurance will know it’s a scam," Sunak said.
The reported value of U.K. cryptocurrency fraud climbed 32% to 226 million pounds ($283 million) in the year ending in September 2022.
The U.K. wants to clamp down on crypto used for crime and has been debating the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill, which will help law enforcement agencies seize and freeze crypto used for crime. Police have officers stationed nationwide to help investigate crypto-related crime.
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Camomile Shumba is a CoinDesk regulatory reporter based in the UK. She previously worked as an intern for Business Insider and Bloomberg News. She does not currently hold value in any digital currencies or projects.