UK considering full crypto investment telemarketing ban

By: Henry Felix

August 24, 2023 11:05 AM

The U.K. Treasury has issued a consultation paper to learn how a ban on all financial-related cold calls would affect people at the grass-roots level.

To help determine the full impact on businesses and the expenses connected with imposing and enforcing the prohibition, His Majesty's Treasury has produced a consultation paper and is seeking evidence.

The United Kingdom government unveiled a new, expansive fraud strategy on May 3 that will require creating 400 new employees as part of an updated, intelligence-led enforcement strategy. According to a report by Cointelegraph's sister publication National Crime Agency, fraud costs the United Kingdom around 7 billion pounds ($8.7 billion) yearly.

Economic Secretary to the Treasury Andrew Griffith has spoken→ out against the expanding trend of cold calls to sell financial services and products, saying, "The federal government is not going to tolerate this behavior."

The Treasury investigated a crypto-related cold call scam. Source: gov.uk

As was illustrated above, the cryptocurrency market was one of many that the Treasury cited as examples of investors losing money due to cold calls. Despite the fact that the government of the United Kingdom has banned and restricted cold calling in the past, con artists still manage to find ways to do so.

The Treasury plans to outlaw all financial sector cold calls. Source: gov.uk

To ensure maximum impact on scammers and minimum influence on firms that often rely on cold calling prospects, the Treasury posed 19 questions to stakeholders before imposing a blanket ban on financial cold calls. On September 27th, 2023, the consultation will end.

A recent petition asking the U.K. government to treat cryptocurrency trading like gambling was denied.

The UK government's Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will collaborate with the sector to educate crypto businesses on the requirements for gaining FSMA gateway authorization. To ensure that UK-based crypto companies have easy access to clear clearance standards, we will send out more notifications in due time.

The official statement emphasized that this strategy could run as opposed to the recommendations of international organizations and standard-setting bodies, which are generally accepted worldwide.