Treasury consultation underlines UK ambition to onshore crypto industry

Written by Roeland Van der Stappen at MWEK Solutions Ltd

Earlier this month, the UK Treasury published a long-awaited consultation paper for the UK’s upcoming crypto regulation. This is part of a push by Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, to attract more crypto businesses and investment to the country and establish the UK as a global crypto hub. Crypto companies have long lamented that a lack of regulatory clarity has made it hard for them to do business in the UK, with only 15% of applicants having successfully met the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) anti-money laundering requirements since it started monitoring registration in 2020. However, the FCA has since provided general feedback to help applicants when preparing for their application process, whilst also underlining the importance of minimum standards to ensure the provision of adequate systems to identify and prevent money laundering and to crack down on unregistered firms active in the UK. The UK Treasury’s proposals are making a concerted effort to bring crypto asset activities ons…