The National Audit Office (NAO) has expressed concerns about the effectiveness of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in regulating the cryptocurrency industry in the United Kingdom. According to a recent report titled ‘Financial services regulation: adapting to change,’ the NAO has criticized the FCA for being slow to respond and take action against illicit activities in the crypto industry. The NAO highlighted that it took the FCA almost three years to take action against illegal operators of crypto ATMs.

The report also pointed out that the FCA’s lack of specialized crypto employees has caused delays in registering crypto firms seeking regulatory approval. The FCA has only approved 41 out of the total 300 crypto firm applications since the rules were implemented in January 2020. The NAO emphasized that high staff turnover rates and a lack of specialist skills increase the risk to the FCA’s key commitments.

In response to these concerns, the FCA has recruited and spent £317m on its change program to better prepare financial services for the future. The FCA has also released guidance material to help crypto firms understand the new crypto promotion rules that recently came into effect. The new rules address issues such as claims about the ease of using crypto without highlighting the associated risks and insufficiently visible risk warnings.

Overall, the NAO’s report raises important questions about the FCA’s effectiveness in regulating the cryptocurrency industry and highlights the need for the FCA to address staffing and skill gaps to improve its regulatory capabilities.

This News Article was automatically generated by Bob the Bot (AI)

Information	Details
Geography	Europe
Countries	🇬🇧
Sentiment	neutral
Relevance Score	1
People	None
Companies	Cointelegraph, Financial Conduct Authority, National Audit Office, SEC, Chainalysis
Currencies	None
Securities	None