The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is reportedly failing so far in its attempt to ban crypto advertising.
Half of all crypto advertising is still active in Britain, and the FCA has yet to punish any of the companies, the Financial Times reports.
Citing data from a Freedom of Information request, FT says only 54% of the FCA’s 1,702 warnings resulted in the removal of illegal ads, apps and websites.
Charles Randell, former chairman of the regulator, told FT that the FCA should start penalizing firms that ignored the ban to end the “very frustrating” level of non-compliance.
“Ultimately, unless a very real and present threat of legal action is visible to both the… [tech] platforms and authorized crypto asset exchanges publishing non-compliant advertisements, it is unlikely we will see any change.”
Randell says part of the difficulty for regulators is the inability to require tech and social media platforms to ban unapproved content, instead relying on good-faith negotiations.
“If the platforms are sufficiently motivated to block these ads, they can and will… The regulators – including both the FCA, Ofcom and, if necessary, criminal prosecution authorities – may need to ensure that the platforms have that motivation.”
The FCA says it is now making “good progress” with tech companies in regulating the banned advertising, but is still “concerned about the prevalence of fraud and scams online”.
“Many social media sites have now banned paid advertising for UK financial services from non-FCA authorized firms, and we will continue to do so [take] take action against those we believe are violating our rules.”
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