UK Financial Services Head Plans 'Timely, Sensible And Balanced' Crypto Regulation

U.K. Financial Services Minister Andrew Griffith announced plans for greater engagement with the crypto sector and new post-Brexit laws during a parliamentary debate on regulating cryptocurrencies.

"My undertaking is to have six roundtables with the sector with a variety of sector participants during 2023," said Griffith, as reported by Coindesk.

The government plans to "bring forward timely, sensible and balanced regulation in order to allow the safe use of this technology,” while also ensuring regulatory clarity and facilitating financial-technology investment.

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Griffith did not provide a specific date for a policy document on crypto rules that were previously promised before Christmas 2022.

He said it would be “a matter of certain weeks, not months,” and that “sometimes that consultative process makes things a little longer than one might wish in a fast-moving domain.”

The U.K.'s crypto industry has been waiting for regulatory clarity and specific rules under which it will operate.

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Griffith acknowledged the importance of speed in a fast-moving sector and sought to address concerns about slow registration processes by officials at the Financial Conduct Authority.

“I'm very interested, as we seek to have an agile proportionate financial regulatory system, that our regulators move at the right pace,” he said. “We can't have a financial system that's competitive internationally if it has slow latency if it doesn't operate at speed.”

Lawmaker Lisa Cameron, a member of the rival Scottish National Party and chair of a cross-party parliamentary crypto group, supports the government’s vision but sought more clarity on timing.

“I would really urge that the regulatory framework is taken forward at pace because I think we need to protect consumers first and foremost,” Cameron said. “It's been almost a year since the government set out its landmark vision to make the U.K. a global hub for crypto investment.”

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