UK FCA to recover $8 million in costs via fees placed on stablecoin issuers, custodians

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced that it intends to recover the equivalent of $8 million in costs stemming from the supervision of stablecoins and crypto, according to a March 19 release.

The funds will be recovered in the form of fees placed on stablecoin issuers and digital asset custodians.

The regulator mainly plans to recover £6.2 million ($7.9 million) related to new stablecoin regulations and a wider regime. It will additionally recover £0.2 million ($254,400) for extending the financial promotions perimeter. Both sums fall under the plan’s “cryptoasset” category.

Together, the total costs to be recovered amount to £6.4 million ($8.1 million). The recovered funds will contribute to the FCA’s annual funding requirement of £755 million ($960 million).

The recovery is part of the agency’s 12-month business plan, which details certain other regulatory goals for the UK market. The FCA will also help deliver a proportionate market abuse regime for digital assets and will continue its earlier crypto financial promotions regime.

The full business plan is broad in scope and extends far beyond crypto regulation. It notably includes plans to regulate digital markets and plans to assess the effects of AI on markets.

Earlier developments

Earlier developments provide context for some of the FCA’s plans. The costs related to new regulations appear to relate to stablecoin regulations that the agency began to pursue in November 2023.

The upcoming market abuse regime builds on rules that came into effect in 2016. Those rules addressed insider dealing, unlawful disclosure, and market manipulation but were not initially aimed at the crypto sector. The UK has considered extending these rules to crypto since at least February 2023.

The FCA has already introduced its financial promotions regime. Those rules were applied to the crypto sector in October 2023. Some crypto firms have withdrawn from the UK market due to compliance challenges; various other firms have been placed on a warning list.

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