The British financial regulator has doubled the number of companies related to cryptocurrency in respect of which it is conducting investigations, writes the Telegraph.
Responding to a request for Freedom of Information sent by the publication, the Financial Regulation and Supervision Authority (FCA) wrote that it currently has 50 legal entities that are “suspected” of providing financial services without permission.
Previous investigations were reported in the media in May, when 24 companies were included. The relevant procedures are carried out at a time when the UK is urgently trying to establish regulation in its jurisdiction over the cryptocurrency sector.
Telegraph also quotes Moore Stephens accounting partner Andrew Jacobs: “The huge sums lost as a result of cryptocurrency prices falling this year will have triggered a rash of complaints to the FCA.”
“Now that prices have collapsed, fraud is likely to be exposed, with greater pressure coming to bear on the FCA to ensure that this market can operate transparently and fairly,”- he added.
Earlier, the British regulator said that it would not stand on ceremony with cryptocurrency companies operating in the financial sector of the country. This also includes the possibility of banning certain types of financial products, which, according to some opinions, may even affect the bitcoin futures.
Speaking at a cryptocurrency regulation event in London, FCA Strategic Director Christopher Woolard last week announced that the regulator plans to take significant steps to curb the illegal use of digital currencies:
“We are concerned about the potential harm posed by current usage of these often poorly-understood crypto assets”.
At the same time, despite the announcement of the rules tightening for regulating the illegal use of cryptocurrencies, Woolard said he did not consider cryptocurrency assets as a threat to financial stability.
In response to the sharp increase in cryptocurrency proliferation in recent years, Woolard said that FCA seeks to facilitate agency cooperation with the UK Treasury and the Bank of England to study the impact of cryptocurrencies and distributed ledger technology on “consumer protection, market integrity and reducing the risk of financial crime.”
Earlier last month as a response to the report issued by the UK MPs suggesting to regulate the “wild west” crypto industry, British Business Financial Authority (BBFA) along with the Baker Bots law firm, Novum Insights venture capital fund, and TodaQ cryptocurrency exchange have presented their own report.
The joint companies report is warning that in the haste of presenting new regulations, authorities might aggravate the situation stating that “bad regulation is worse than no regulation at all”.
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