The U.K’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced the extension of its Friday deadline for crypto exchanges to complete their registration with the regulator. This means that the firms with temporary registration status will still be allowed to carry out their operations.
As of March 25, only 12 companies are allowed to “carry out crypto asset activities”, which include Copper, Revolut, and CEX.IO.
However, the FCA reiterates that the extension of the temporary registration deadline doesn’t mean that it has completely assessed and deemed the companies fit to operate in the U.K.
“Only firms that are registered with us or on our list of firms with temporary registration can continue trading,” the FCA noted.
Other firms must have stopped trading from January 10, 2021. Those not in the category and still trading are at risk of being subject to the regulator’s criminal and civil enforcement powers.
33 Crypto Firms Have Been Approved
The FCA stated that it has approved the application of 33 crypto firms since August 2020, in compliance with the U.K.’s anti-money laundering laws. Additionally, some companies were granted temporary registration status until Friday to enable the regulator to have enough time to validate their applications.
But the latest announcement means that the companies will be permitted to carry out their operations in the country until further notice. However, it doesn’t finalize the registration of these companies who may still be denied if their applications do not meet the FCA’s requirements.
The FCA has not picked a new deadline for the companies bearing temporary registration status after extending the previous deadline from July 2021 to March 2022.
As the deadline for the registration was approaching, many crypto companies were scambling and limbo regarding their status. Many of them withdrew their applications following the screening crackdown by the FCA on AML and CFT compliance in 2020. Earlier in March this year, the FCA ordered Bitcoin ATM to close its operations in the UK or face legal action. According to the regulator, the crypto firm did not meet the AML conditions and lack the regulatory structure to operate in the U.K.
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