UK FCA buys another 9 months to review crypto companies’ registrations

The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has extended the end date of crypto-asset companies’ temporary registration from July 2021 to March 2022.

The Temporary Registrations Regime, or TRR, was established last year to enable crypto businesses to continue trading while their registrations were still being assessed by the FCA. With the latest announcement, any crypto companies that applied before Dec. 16, 2020 have temporary registration until March 31, 2022.

After becoming the supervisor of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing measures for crypto companies in the United Kingdom, the FCA obliged all crypto-asset businesses to comply with the country’s AML regulations. The initial deadline for the registration was Jan. 10, 2021.

But since the COVID-19 pandemic made site visits difficult, along with the “the complexity and standard of the applications received,” the FCA announced the TRR and issued temporary registrations to all businesses that submitted an application before Dec. 16. The initial period of the TRR was set to end on July 9.

The temporary registration is limited to businesses that were active prior to Jan. 10, 2020. New companies require full registration.

According to the announcement, an “unprecedented number of businesses” withdrew their applications due to their substandard operations regarding their money laundering regulations. “The extended date allows cryptoasset firms to continue to carry on business while the FCA continues with its robust assessment,” the announcement reads.

The FCA’s announcement reiterates the risks involved in crypto asset trading, stating that an FCA registration does not guarantee the protection of client assets. The financial regulator issued a warning earlier this year when Bitcoin (BTC) took a dive below $33,000, stressing that investors should be ready to lose all their money while investing in crypto.