The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is now the United Kingdom's sole Anti-Money Laundering (AML) authority for the crypto business. After a decade of compliance under a laissez-faire approach to AML legislation, U.K.-based crypto firms now face a significantly more stringent set of rules. With the FCA thrashing U.K. crypto regulation into shape, the consequences upon start-ups, user privacy and adoption will likely be wide-reaching. In its early stages, decentralized finance (DeFi) has uncovered a bounty of possibilities within the economic sector. From borderless banking to using blockchain technology, DeFi is leading a comprehensive coup d'état against an entrenched financial industry. …
The United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has reported that common investment scams’ losses — including those crypto-related — amounted in total to over £197 million ($255 million) in 2018. The agency reported the losses in an official press release published on Feb. 6. According to data from the FCA call center, the most common reported scams involved unauthorized investments in shares and bonds, forex markets and cryptocurrencies. Each victim lost an average of £29,000 ($37,000), with such types of fraudulent investments accounting for a total of 4,996 reported cases and constituting 85 percent of the overall number of scam …
Cyber criminals have been sending scam emails claiming to be from the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and promoting crypto assets investments, financial market-focused platform FT Adviser reported on July 22. The letter impersonating the FCA is entitled "Guaranteed chance to earn" and features the watchdog’s logo and branding. After reading that "Bitcoin is still a long way off its peak price of $20,000, which it reached in 2017, but some cryptocurrency experts believe it could hit an even higher value by 2020," it offers recipients to follow a link labelled "Click her." The FCA has reportedly confirmed that …
The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) launched action against a reportedly fraudulent $147 million bitcoin (BTC) scheme, the regulator announced on June 18. On June 17, the CFTC filed a complaint with the New York Southern District Court against now-defunct United Kingdom-based entity Control-Finance Ltd, which defrauded more than 1,000 investors to launder at least 22,858 bitcoin. The CFTC also brings actions against the entity’s head, Benjamin Reynolds, stating that Control-Finance and Reynolds “exploited public enthusiasm for Bitcoin” from May 1, 2017, to October 31, 2017. The action seeks civil monetary penalties, including “permanent trading and registration bans, …
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned investors about a so-called “clone’ company of investment firm Fair Oaks Capital Ltd., in a statement published Aug. 7. Clone firms are companies that carry out business activities under the pretense that they are a firm registered by the FCA. Almost all legal entities involved in financial services in the U.K. must be authorized or registered by the FCA. In the statement, the FCA outlines a fraudulent company targeting people in the U.K. using registration data of firms authorized by the regulator. The clone, Fair Oaks Crypto, allegedly aims to hoodwink potential …