Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment has he made of the adequacy of the capacity of the Financial Conduct Authority to regulate cryptocurrencies.

The government is proposing an approach to cryptoasset regulation under which firm requirements are designed and implemented by the independent regulators to ensure an agile regime able to respond to developments in the sector. The recent Financial Services and Markets Act included powers to bring stablecoins and cryptoasset activities within the FCA regulatory perimeter.

The FCA completed its Transformation Programme in March 2023 seeking to make the FCA a more innovative, assertive and adaptive regulator. It involved significant investment in the FCA’s systems and capabilities to enable better use of data and intelligence to regulate 50,000 firms effectively and efficiently. Further information on the delivery of the Transformation Programme is contained in the FCA Annual Report 2022-2023

The Government will continue to regularly discuss delivery of the Transformation Programme with the FCA to monitor progress.