UK Regulator FCA Has Issued Over 1K Warnings to Crypto Firms Since October

The FCA has sent out more than 1,000 warnings to crypto companies since rules on financial promotions for crypto companies came into force on October 8 last year.

Lucy Castledine, the FCA’s director of consumer investment, told CoinDesk that 48 apps have been removed from UK app stores as a result of the FCA’s actions.

Lucy Castledine, director of consumer investment at the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority, told CoinDesk that the agency has issued more than 1,000 warnings to crypto companies since its financial promotions rules came into effect last October.

The rules require crypto companies to be registered with the regulator to reach UK customers

“I think it’s also important to note that we will continue to take action where we see firms acting unlawfully and to date we have issued over 1,000 warnings to unregistered crypto firms promoting unlawfully in the UK market,” Castledine said in an interview.

“We have therefore issued warnings against the firms in question and in fact 48 apps have been removed from UK app stores as a result of our actions. We will continue to work with third parties such as social media companies to ensure that illegal websites are removed and taken down appropriately,” Castledine said.

The FCA published guidance for registered firms on Wednesday, outlining both good and bad practice.

The rules require firms to take reasonable steps to determine whether a consumer is a restricted, high-net-worth or certified sophisticated investor before communicating financial promotions.

Most firms ensured that customers could categorise themselves properly, the report says. “However, we have seen poor examples of firms guiding the process by telling consumers what they need to enter to proceed,” the FCA says.

Read more: Why Are Some Crypto Firms Suspending Services in the UK?