UK Financial Markets Regulator Warns About Unregistered Crypto-Asset Firms: Report

The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority said there are 111 unregistered crypto-asset firms operating in the country and they pose a risk to the broader financial system, according to a Reuters report.

• The FCA said that since January when it was appointed as anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing supervisor of crypto-asset firms, it has become compulsory for businesses to obtain full registration before they can begin trading.
• “We have a number of firms that are clearly doing business in the U.K. without being registered with us and they are dealing with someone: banks, payment services firm, consumers,” Mark Steward, the FCA’s head of enforcement and market oversight, said at an event organized by City & Financial Global, a conference and webinar firm, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
• Steward said the regulatory body is the unregistered crypto-asset firms pose a “very real risk.” 
• Of the estimated almost 2.5 million Britons who hold crypto assets, many are new investors and aren't very knowledgeable about the associated risks, he said.

Read more: UK’s AML Rules Could Force Up to 50 Crypto Firms to Cease Trading: Report