The UK Treasury has issued a consultation and call for evidence to assess the impact of a proposed ban on finance-related cold calls. The government has also announced a fraud strategy that would involve 400 new jobs to update its approach to intelligence-led policing. It is estimated that fraud costs the country approximately $8.7 billion (£7 billion) annually.Andrew Griffith, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, has criticized the rising cold calls for financial services and products that often target the most vulnerable members of society. The Treasury has highlighted numerous instances where cold calls were responsible for investors’ losses, including one involving cryptocurrencies.The Treasury is seeking to impose a blanket ban on financial cold calls and has put forth 19 questions to stakeholders to ensure maximum impact on scammers and minimum impact on businesses that often rely on cold calling prospects. The consultation closes on Sept. 27, 2023.The UK government recently rejected the appeal to consider and regulate cryptocurrencies as gambling. Instead, it will work with the industry to ensure crypto firms are made aware of the standards required for approval at the FSMA gateway. This approach has the potential to counter the globally agreed recommendations from international organizations and standard-setting bodies.

Information	Details
Geography	Europe
Countries	🇬🇧 🇺🇸
Sentiment	neutral
Relevance Score	9
People	Andrew Griffith, HM Treasury
Companies	HM Treasury, National Crime Agency, Financial Conduct Authority, FSMA, Recursive inscriptions
Currencies	None
Securities	None