FCA: Majority of crypto exchange applications 'withdrawn or refused'

Concerns over money laundering

Around 90% of applications from crypto exchanges in the UK are either "withdrawn or refused", FCA chief executive Nikhil Rathi said on Wednesday (8 December), as he argued that some crypto assets have "no intrinsic value" at all.

Speaking before the Treasury Select Committee, Rathi said: "We see a serious link to money laundering and serious organised crime being propagated through crypto exchanges and a culture in many of those organisations that does not respond to the level of systems of controls that we would need from those firms as they are growing." Treasury Committee grills Nikhil Rathi over FCA bonus scheme and fee hikes The watchdog was accused of sometimes taking up to a year to authorise financial technology firms, meaning smaller businesses could go "out of business" while waiting to be approved. ...