Regulation
Is Britain lagging behind when it comes to regulating crypto assets?
Home to international investment banks, private equity funds and wealth management companies, London has long been regarded as one of the world’s leading financial centers. And despite the shocks the industry felt after Brexit, a recent EY survey showed that London remains the leading European destination for investment in financial services.
The City of London has long had a reputation for relaxed financial regulation, particularly after the deregulation of the London Stock Exchange in 1986 – so dramatic that it was described as the “big bang” – which propelled London to the forefront of global finance. .
Given the City’s proud history of financial boldness, it is surprising that the UK’s financial regulator – the Financial Conduct Authority – has been reluctant in recent years to approve crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs).
But on May 28, the London Stock Exchange launched its very first ETPs backed by cryptocurrencies. four Bitcoin and Ethereum ETNs (exchange-traded notes) became available to institutional investors.
Yet retail investors were excluded from this offer, as the FCA reiterated his long-held view that “crypto ETNs and crypto derivatives are unsuitable for retail consumers due to the harm they pose.”
Continuing with a sobering warning to all would-be crypto speculators, the regulator warned that crypto assets are “high risk and largely unregulated, those who invest should be prepared to lose all their money.”
But what is an exchange-traded security, and why is the UK financial regulator so concerned about it?
Exchange-traded notes are a type of debt typically issued by financial institutions that track the value of an underlying asset – in this case, crypto. As a form of debt, the holder does not own the crypto themselves, but rather receives a promise from the bank that it will pay the difference in price of the asset at the end of the contract.
The FCA has imposed a a rather strict set of rules for London crypto ETNs, specifying that applications would only be approved if they were not operated and backed by Bitcoin or Ethereum, of which 90% of the underlying asset must be held in an offline custodial wallet or equivalent.
It’s certainly a cautious start, but as crypto investor Rotem Farkash explains, “London is a globally significant financial market. I am sure the FCA’s decision will be welcomed by institutional investors based in the UK capital.
In America’s wake
ETNs are often confused with their better-known cousins, ETFs (exchange-traded funds), available to retail investors since the 1970s.
Unlike ETNs, ETFs offer investors ownership of a set of assets, the benefits of which for retail investors are obvious: by purchasing an ETF tracking the S&P 500 index, the investor owns one share of each of the 500 largest American companies, providing a practical and inexpensive solution. cost tool for diversifying an investment portfolio without the hours of market research typically required.
And aside from convenience, investing in ETFs has always been extremely fruitful. A recent report from Standard and Poor’s found that on average, 64% of active large-cap fund managers perform worse than the S&P500 index in a given year.
The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) finally granted requests for a crypto ETF on January 10, 2024, when it authorized 11 fund managers to issue spot Bitcoin ETFs available to retail investors, a move praised by the New York Times as the beginning of a “new era”.
Few decisions by a financial regulator have been greeted with such fanfare in recent years, as crypto investors thought they had finally achieved the mainstream recognition they had long craved.
Despite a slow startBitcoin and Ethereum have demonstrated strong growth since the SEC approval in January, reaching record highs in March 2024 and Bitcoin, at the time of writing, sits comfortably above the $60,000 mark .
Which brings us back to London and the FCA’s decision to reject ETNs for retail investors. Five months after the SEC’s historic decision, crypto growth remains strong and the asset is expected to remain an important part of the financial markets.
Britain is lagging behind its rivals, however, and despite the FCA’s reasonable concerns about exposing retail investors to the notorious volatility of cryptocurrencies, the decision risks hampering the ability of the London Stock Exchange to remain a leading financial center.
Picture: Secret London
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