The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) extended the deadline for crypto businesses to register under its Temporary Registrations Regime (TRR) from July 9 to March 31 of next year.
- The U.K. financial watchdog is concerned that a "significantly high number" of crypto-asset businesses are not meeting its standards on anti-money laundering, it said on Thursday.
- "This has resulted in an unprecedented number of businesses withdrawing their applications," it said.
- Firms will now be able to continue operating until March 31, 2022, while the organization examines their applications. The FCA reiterated it will only register firms it is confident have measures in place to identify and prevent money laundering.
- The FCA established the TRR in December 2020 to enable businesses that had registered to continue trading after the regulator became the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing supervisor for crypto firms.