According to a report by “The Block”, UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has stated that he will investigate claims of licensed cryptocurrency companies facing difficulties in opening business accounts in the country.
In response to questions raised by the cross-party parliamentary group chair Lisa Cameron regarding the challenges faced by licensed cryptocurrency companies in the UK, Hunt has agreed to meet with Treasury Minister for the Economy Bim Afolami to discuss the matter.
Hunt responded by stating that he will arrange a meeting with the Treasury to conduct an investigation, also taking the opportunity to express that “the UK, particularly London, has become a global cryptocurrency center.” Hunt added:
In April 2022, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, during his tenure as Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced plans to transform the country into a “global cryptocurrency center.” Subsequently, the UK has advanced this goal through legislation, such as the new regulations overseeing the country’s Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS) project.
The regulation for the Digital Securities Sandbox, as outlined in an official document, will provide rules for UK financial regulators to oversee tokenized security sandbox, with terms set to come into effect on January 8, 2024, as part of the UK government’s Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (FSMA).
The regulation specifies the overall limitations on which businesses can operate within the digital securities sandbox and which participants are eligible to join. The Digital Securities Sandbox will allow regulators and businesses to test solutions including distributed ledger technology and security tokenization.