Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) claims the majority of cryptocurrency-related companies is not complying with anti-money laundering rules, Reuters reports, citing the watchdog's statement. According to the FCA, only five firms registered with the watchdog since January, while 90 have temporary registration. However, the watchdog says this status does not mean the firms are registered completely.
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"The FCA will only register firms where it is confident that processes are in place to identify and prevent this activity."
As many crypto firms failed to meet regulatory requirements, the FCA said over 50 firms withdrew their applications for registration. Thus, the FCA decided to extend the deadline of its temporary registrations regime from July 9 to the end of March 2022.
Earlier in March, the FCA extended the number of firms that are obliged to report on financial crime. Now, the British watchdog requires crypto-related businesses to submit the annual REP-CRIM financial crime report. Hence, all cryptocurrency firms based in the UK are supervised under the Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs).
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