FCA hunts for 15 crypto hires as new rules take shape: ‘We are recruiting at pace’

Global regulators are inching closer to drawing up a complete set of rules for the crypto sector. In a 10 October vote, European Union lawmakers overwhelmingly backed the start of formal bloc-wide laws to regulate markets in cryptoassets, also known as MiCA.

And on 11 October, the Financial Stability Board — a global watchdog — made a set of sweeping recommendations to the G20, Barron’s reported. Those include breaking up big crypto companies that offer a wide range of functions, such as lending, custody and brokerage as part of one entity.

In Britain, the FCA is still in its recruitment and learning stage. It has not yet settled on a permanent director for its digital assets division, and recently invited crypto companies to attend a so-called crypto sprint, a day-long event designed to better educate staff on how the sector works as they decide how to police it.

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The fresh job postings have all come in the last three weeks, and are for workers based in London, Edinburgh and Leeds. On 11 October, Financial News revealed that the regulator had turned down a chance to join the Treasury’s Darlington economic campus last year.

Earlier in 2022, then-chancellor Rishi Sunak positioned Britain as a “global hub” for the industry, saying the UK was “open for crypto businesses”. Since Britain’s new government came in led by Prime Minister Liz Truss, the economic secretary to the Treasury, Richard Fuller, has reiterated that goal.

But companies are still worried about the slow pace of the FCA’s registration process for crypto firms wishing to carry out regulated activities in the UK, and the subsequent effects on the “crypto hub” ambition.

One chief executive recently told FN that it took his company eight months to be assigned a case officer after initially submitting an application in 2021, and a whole year to be fully registered.

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Another, Serhii Zhdanov, chief executive of crypto exchange Exmo, said the company submitted its application on 1 September, but nearly six weeks on it still had not been assigned a case officer. He described the process as “a bit slow”.

He added that the regulator had told him the assessment would take six months, despite the application’s online dashboard saying it would take only three months.

“Sometimes it feels like there is a huge gap between what is being announced by the government and what is actually being done by regulators.”

His comments echo those of Binance’s co-founder, He Yi, who recently told FN that the UK was the “most stressful” country from the perspective of crypto regulation.

An FCA spokesperson said: “Crypto remains a growth [area] for us and this is why we are recruiting at pace.”

And as for the lag when it comes to onboarding new crypto firms, the FCA said:

 “We have seen multiple issues with the applications from firms seeking registration which include poor applications and inadequate systems and controls, which has led to increases in registration times. We will work with firms seeking registration to help them as much as possible through the process.

“The FCA supports innovation. That is built on ensuring firms meet our standards, providing consumer and investor confidence.”

To contact the author of this story with feedback or news, email Alex Daniel