UK Regulator FCA Arrests Two People Associated With 1B-Pound Illegal Crypto Business

Two men were arrested by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Metropolitan Police for allegedly running a $1.3 billion illegal crypto business.

The FCA has said it will do everything it can to stop crypto companies from operating illegally.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and London police force have arrested two men suspected of running an illicit $1.3 billion crypto business.

“More than 1 billion [pounds] It is believed that a large portion of unregistered crypto assets are traded through this business,” the regulator said in a press release on Thursday.

The suspects, aged 38 and 44, were taken into custody by the FCA and released on bail. During the investigation, the FCA inspected offices associated with the two and the Metropolitan Police seized a number of digital devices during searches of two London residences.

The investigation continues. FCA declined to add further details.

Since January 2021, cryptoasset services must be registered with the FCA under anti-money laundering rules. Although more than 300 businesses have tried so far, only 44 companies have managed to register.

The United Kingdom has also recently given police greater powers to seize and freeze crypto and crypto-related items while conducting investigations.

“The FCA has an important role to play in keeping dirty money out of the UK financial system,” Therese Chambers, the FCA’s director general of enforcement and market surveillance, said in a statement. she said. “These arrests show we will do everything we can to stop crypto companies operating illegally in the UK.”

The regulator may be turning more to enforcement powers after Britain’s spending watchdog, the National Audit Office, warned late last year that it had been too slow to take enforcement action.