By Michael Scott
The newly appointed Economic Secretary in the UK, Andrew Griffith, is advocating for implementing the Financial Service and Market Bill 2022-23 before this year’s Easter holiday. Griffith unveiled his plans to place UK’s Bill 146 in the Statute record.
At a special annual dinner event on February 2, Griffith pushed for the UK to leverage its strengths to become a remarkable financial hub for other countries.
In his statement, Griffith reiterated that by developing strong ties with other countries, the UK would attract more investment and create more opportunities for foreign trade.
What does the UK Financial Bill Entail?
In 2022, members of the House of Commons in the UK developed the Financial Service and Market Bill to stimulate economic development within the region. Afterward, the Bill continues to accommodate major reforms, including Griffith’s proposal last October. As per Griffith’s proposed amendment, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and HM Treasury would be obliged to control the crypto industry.
Griffith’s proposal echoes Nadhim Zahawi, a British pro-crypto politician, July 2022 report demanding that regulators in the UK treat stablecoin as a payment method.
Also, His Majesty’s Treasury requested the development of innovative financial market tools such as sandboxes to ease the integration of new technologies such as crypto assets in the financial sector.
Griffith Proposal
At the beginning of February, the UK Treasury released a consultation report outlining procedures to regulate the crypto industry. According to the report, crypto lenders and exchanges are urged to comply with regulations to protect consumers from manipulative activities.
Following this, Griffith tasked the regulators to develop more clarity on crypto laws. The consultation document encourages UK nationals to share their valuable pro-crypto input. In particular, it challenges them to contribute to matters dealing with crypt-related activities such as mining, decentralized finance (DeFi) and trading.
Griffith encourages the community to continue sharing their input concerning the consultation paper since the report. Once passed into law, it would offer a great opportunity for the economy of the UK to flourish.
Besides the crypto regulation, Griffith desired the UK to be an innovative zone. In his speech, he termed innovation as a golden thread that would position the UK as the home for the most innovative financial markets and services.