U.K. REGULATORS TO TIGHTEN RULES ON CRYPTO

Soon to have the authority to oversee cryptocurrency advertising and promotion, the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) plans to tighten rules on how crypto exchanges and promoters can present their products and services to the public, the Financial Times reported.
The country’s treasury department will add the authority to the FCA’s portfolio, the department said on 18 January.
Among the proposed new rules:

• promoters will no longer be able to give cash bonuses to customers who register or refer friends;
• tougher standards for approval of messages before they can be published;
• under certain conditions, a possible 24-hour cool-down period before consumers can act on high-pressure ads or short-term specials;
• more stringent warnings of risk. One example the FCA has proposed: “Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all your money invested.”

“Too many people are being led to invest in products they don’t understand and are too risky for them,” Sarah Pritchard, the FCA’s director of markets, told the FT.
The FCA will accept public comments and publish a draft of its final rules this spring, which then will need to be authorized by the parliament.
Italy, Singapore, and Spain already have instituted similar consumer protections.