King Charles III has given final approval to a piece of legislation that will allow the UK to regain control of its financial services rulebook. The UK’s upper parliamentary chamber approved the Financial Services and Markets Bill 2023 on June 19th. The bill allows the UK government to regulate crypto assets and stablecoins, bringing them into the scope of financial regulation.
According to the Treasury, the bill would give the UK economy a much-needed boost after being hit hard by the pandemic and its exit from Europe. Further clarifying that the bill, “Enables the regulation of crypto assets to support their safe adoption in the UK.”
1/ 🇬🇧 The UK’s Financial Services & Markets Bill has received Royal Assent, the final step for this major legislation, which brings #stablecoins into the regulatory perimeter, designates #crypto as regulated activity & supervision of #crypto promotionshttps://t.co/wG4D3sgDgz
— Teana Baker-Taylor (@TeanaTaylor) June 29, 2023
Andrew Griffith, economic secretary to the Treasury said, “2023 is proving to be a banner year for reforming our financial services. This landmark piece of legislation gives us control of our financial services rulebook, so it supports UK businesses and consumers and drives growth.”
Attract more companies
The bill was amended to include crypto as a regulated financial activity, to supervise crypto promotions and advertising, and to bring stablecoins under the scope of payment regulations. These new crypto regulations in the UK could also attract more crypto companies from the US, where regulators are cracking down on the industry with a flurry of lawsuits.
US policymakers have been debating which agency should regulate cryptocurrency, while the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and its chair Gary Gensler have seemingly taken the lead by declaring that all digital assets other than Bitcoin are securities. This lack of clear regulation from Congress is causing companies, talent, innovation, and capital to leave the U.S. cryptocurrency market.
Isa Muhammad is a writer and video game journalist covering many aspects of entertainment media including the film industry. He's steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism and enjoys staying informed. If he's not reading, playing video games or catching up on his favourite TV series, then he's probably writing about them.
