Cummings Pepperdine on the regulation of cryptoasset business.

If you are based in the UK and you feel the time is now for you to establish your investment advisory business or your investment management business, you need to be authorised by the FCA under Part 4A of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (“FSMA”) – all individuals within your firm who conduct certain activities will also need to be authorised by the FCA.

Each firm will fall into a particular category of regulated business. These include categories for financial advice, wealth management, investment management, payment service institutions and FinTech or innovative business. For this last category, the FCA has set up a direct support team which gives a dedicated contact for innovator businesses which are considering applying for authorisation and need support and also those which do not need to be authorised but could benefit from FCA support.