The U.K. Parliament's upper chamber, the House of Lords, has recently passed the Financial Services and Markets Bill (FSMB) in a vote, recognizing crypto as a regulated activity in the country. The move took the legislation to the final stages before being formally signed into law. The 340-page bill was first introduced in July last year. - Initially, the legislation only included a provision to regulate stablecoins under the country's payment rules.
- However, Parliament then added amendments to treat crypto as a regulated activity and measures to oversee crypto-related promotions to the bill.
- The legislation mainly aims to give regulators more power over the U.K.'s financial system and the authorization to establish rules for the crypto industry.
- The FSMB will now be returned to the lower chamber of Parliament to agree on a final version.
- When both chambers agree upon the bill, it will be sent to the King to be approved and passed into law.
The FSMB is expected to help the U.K. catch up with the European Union (EU) in regulating crypto space. - Earlier in June, the EU officially signed its most comprehensive, region-wide crypto regulations, the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA), into law, after three years of development.
- The provisions of the MiCA will come into force in 12 to 18 months, and the rules in the legislation will apply to all the 27 member states in the EU bloc.
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