News
The FCA, the UK regulator, arrests two people associated with an illegal $1.3 billion cryptocurrency business
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the London police force have arrested two people suspected of running an illegal $1.3 billion cryptocurrency business.
“More than 1 billion [pounds] number of unregistered crypto assets are believed to have been bought and sold through this activity,” the The regulator said this in a press release on Thursday.
The suspects, aged between 38 and 44, were interviewed under caution by the FCA and released on bail. During the investigation, the FCA inspected offices associated with the pair and the Metropolitan Police seized several digital devices during searches of two London residential properties.
The investigation continues. The FCA declined to add further details.
“The FCA has an important role to play in keeping dirty money out of the UK financial system,” Therese Chambers, the FCA’s executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said in a statement. “These arrests show that we will do everything in our power to stop cryptocurrency companies from operating illegally in the UK”
The regulator may rely more on its enforcement powers after being called out late last year by the UK’s spending watchdog, the National Audit Office, for being too slow to take enforcement action.