- Between October 8 and December 31, the FCA issued 450 warnings about illegal advertising of cryptoassets.
- The agency has tightened regulation on advertising of financial products to protect against fraud.
- The regulator is concerned about the growing number of violations of the new marketing rules.
On February 14, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) presented a report on the agency’s work in 2023. The regulator issued hundreds of warnings for violations of the law on advertising digital assets.
Note that on October 8, new FCA rules regarding advertisements in the crypto industry came into force. According to the document, to promote their products or services, crypto firms must be registered with the agency or receive approval from an organization with such authority.
In addition, the rules require companies to report risks and give users 24 hours to make a decision on a potential purchase.
According to the report, the agency issued 2,285 alerts to unauthorized firms and individuals in 2023, a 21% increase from 2022. The FCA also issued 450 warnings about firms illegally promoting cryptoassets between October 8 and December 31, 2023.
The UK regulator expressed concern about the rise in breaches:
“We continue to see an increase in the number of bloggers and social media influencers offering financial products without authorization. We are issuing requests to major companies and platforms including Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram to crack down on illegal financial advertising,” the authority said in a statement.
The report said the FCA checked more than 4,700 websites and social media platforms. As a result, the authority issued 1,549 warnings and terminated 538 sites.
“In 2024, we will continue our strong action against firms running illegal advertising campaigns,” the FCA said.
Recall, in October, the UK regulator announced the lack of authorization for crypto exchanges HTX and KuCoin to operate in the country. Platforms Binance and OKX reported that they will adhere to the new rules of financial promotion in the country.
