The FCA officials underlined the need for crypto regulation in the near future, appearing before a parliamentary committee of the United Kingdom.
The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s officials recently presented themselves before the House of Commons Treasury Committee, and discussed, among other issues, the regulation of crypto in upcoming times. The main agenda of the committee’s meeting with the FCA officials was to discuss the body’s work and current functions.
Nikhil Rathi, the CEO of the Financial Conduct Authority, and the new Chair of the FCA, Ashley Alder, appeared before the Treasury committee and answered a wide array of questions on topics ranging from crypto to mortgage rates and predatory lending. Ashley Alder, who formerly served as the CEO of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, also informed that the FCA would completely ‘reset’ after the Financial Services and Markets bill is approved in the parliament.
“The interesting aspect to this is the degree to which crypto would need to adapt and effectively detoxify in order to fit within that regime,” said Alder, referring to the scenario if the principle of “same risk, same regulation” was implemented on crypto firms. Alder also stated that financial regulators would look at the crypto sector from a regulatory viewpoint and that the crypto regulations needed to be strict.
Alder also agreed that while regulation might legitimize crypto, it was unavoidable since new rules were important to control issues such as money laundering. The FCA officials also said the new regulations would not be able to protect consumers completely from the risks associated with crypto.