The Temporary Registrations Regime, which was set by the UK’s FCA, will be extended to 31 March 2022, said the financial watchdog in an announcement.
The FCA became the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing supervisor for all crypto-related firms in the country on 10 January 2020. The Temporary Registrations Regime is focused on all those cryptocurrency companies that applied for a license with the FCA to continue to trade and deal with clients while their application was/is pending. In other words, the regime was put in place so that these crypto businesses can continue working while awaiting approval from the FCA.
The initial deadline was set for January 10 of this year, forcing all existing crypto companies to register with the Financial Conduct Authority before that. However, the plans were scratched due to the overwhelming amount of application the regulator received as well as the complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moreover, the FCA revealed that many companies were unable to meet the requirements set by the overseer, most importantly, the Money Laundering Laws. As a result, many companies began withdrawing their applications. In fact, very few cryptocurrency services companies are able to pull out and come out clean.
UK’s watchdog was also vocal about the risks associated with cryptocurrency trading. The agency recently moved against the crypto industry, which led to a major ban in early January 2021 of the sale of cryptocurrency derivatives to retails investors.
