Some foreign crypto firms have responded inadequately to the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority's attempts to engage them about its upcoming promotions rules for the industry, officials at the regulatory agency said on Monday.
The promotion rules requiring crypto firms to have appropriate warnings on their websites and a 24-hour waiting period for new investors to confirm they want to enter into a contract with companies will take effect on Oct. 8. Companies can also apply for a three-month extension to comply with the rules.
While the FTC has tried to engage crypto firms serving U.K. clients about the promotions regime, it is 'concerned about a lack of engagement from some unregulated overseas firms', Castledine said.
t comment on specific firms but what we can say is that, of course, where firms are making decisions to actually get to the standards we want to see, that's really positive, said Matthew Long, FCA's director of payments and digital assets.
'' We will issue warnings against those particular firms when firms don't comply. We also have the ability to issue takedown requests... and we've been working with the other big online tech platforms to make sure that illegal promotions don't actually appear in the first place, Castledine said.
The regulator will also have powers against overseas firms serving U.K. clients without registering with the FCA, but how they will handle them will vary case by case, Castledine said. The agency submits information about non-compliance firms to global watchdogs like the International Organization of Securities Commissions to be added to alert lists, she said.