UK financial watchdog seeks crypto talent amid new crackdown

Published at: March 15, 2022

The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is seeking senior executives with cryptocurrency-related expertise as the regulator is preparing to launch a new crypto department to regulate the industry.

According to FCA’s job postings on LinkedIn, the authority is now hunting for a head of the digital assets department and a director of the payments and digital assets department. Both job postings target the crypto savvy.

Published on Monday on LinkedIn, FCA’s head of digital asset job posting targets a candidate who will be accountable for leading the authority’s approach to regulatory operations within the crypto industry across the United Kingdom. The new position is also expected to help the FCA have a “single narrative on crypto,” the posting notes.

The new role is part of FCA’s plan to establish a dedicated department for crypto, the announcement notes, stating that the new position will be crucial for the regulator’s crypto supervision efforts:

“We are looking for a head of department to build and lead a new crypto department that will lead and coordinate the FCA’s regulatory activity in this emerging market. This is a critical leadership role within a proposed new directorate dealing with emerging business models [...]”

The FCA will be accepting applications for this position until April 3, 2022, according to the posting.

In another job announcement posted last week, the FCA is also looking for a payments and digital assets department director.

The scope of the role initially includes responsibility for policy and supervision related to payments, e-money and crypto assets as well as other emerging business models across the financial services industry. The position requires experience and knowledge of the relevant regulatory environment, including issues associated with cryptocurrencies and payment firms.

The FCA’s efforts to set up a new dedicated crypto regulation unit comes amid the regulator growing increasingly concerned about the supervision of the cryptocurrency industry recently.

Last week, the FCA issued an order to shut down operators of Bitcoin (BTC) ATMs in the country as part of its efforts to curb money laundering. The authority also reiterated last Friday that all United Kingdom-based financial services firms, including crypto businesses, are expected to ensure compliance with sanctions against Russia.

The regulator has been actively regulating the industry before as well though. Earlier in March, the FCA officially announced that it opened more than 300 cases on unregistered crypto firms over a period of six months, launching 50 active investigations against unregistered crypto businesses. The FCA reportedly received 6,372 alerts about suspected crypto frauds in 2021, up from 3,143 the year before.

The FCA did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.