UK regulators have announced that they are now considering the decision of keeping investment products like derivatives and other crypto products off the market for retail traders. According to the joint committee of regulators, the previous decision taken on the products is now deemed unjustified. The decision at the time meant that retail traders were banned from holding any investment products with ties to digital assets.
UK regulators challenge FCA ruling on investment products
According to records, the UK regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, decided to ban the products in January 2021. Since the ban, companies have prohibited selling crypto investment products like ETN and derivatives to retail traders. The ban was announced despite 97% of the population in the consultation period opposing the law.
Most respondents argued at the time that retailers were well informed on the type of products they were dealing with. This meant they could handle the risks and benefits that the kind of market presented them. However, after rounds of talks among the UK regulators, the bodies gave enough reasons why they felt that the prohibition meted out during the period was unjust and why they were against it.
Britain wants to foster its crypto sector
The UK regulators said they deployed the cost-benefit analysis and discovered that yearly losses stood at $333 million. The body also mentioned that the FCA refused to explain what would happen should the prohibition be lifted. In addition, there was no straight calculation to determine the costs and benefits when the ruling was passed. With these claims, the UK regulators are challenging the prohibition by putting it in the red level.
This does not mean that the law will automatically be abolished. Going by the ties the group of regulators have with several departments in the country, it might birth a new regulation after talks with the FCA and other core stakeholders. Britain made some huge strides in fostering the development of the crypto industry last year. A typical example is the exemption handed out to investment managers to enable them to add some digital assets to their list of investments.
Source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/uk-regulators-investment-product-ban/