Overview
- The FCA published its final crypto rules on Tuesday and opened a defined authorisation window from September 30, 2026 to February 28, 2027 with the new regime taking full effect on October 25, 2027.
- Existing anti‑money‑laundering registrations will not transfer automatically and firms must submit fresh FCA applications to continue serving UK customers.
- Stablecoin issuers face tightened guardrails including statutory trusts for cash reserves, up to a 5% excess backing allowance and a reduced capital buffer set at 1% of issued value after industry feedback.
- Firms will be subject to stronger resilience and market‑conduct rules covering capital and stress testing, custody and disclosure duties, collateral rules for retail lending and a ‘hard stop’ so retail investors cannot end up owing exchanges money.
- The regulator trimmed earlier, tougher proposals to protect market functioning—allowing matched‑principal and affiliate trading and favouring disclosure over blanket retail bans—while signalling further DeFi guidance and Bank of England oversight for systemically important stablecoins.