FCA Warns Against Kraken Operating in the UK

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a warning on Tuesday against Kraken.com, a popular US-based crypto exchange, for offering services in the United Kingdom.
Per the market watchdog, Kraken is offering financial products and investment opportunities in the country. However, it is not authorized to offer any such services in the United Kingdom without obtaining any license from the regulator.

“We believe this firm has been providing financial services or products in the UK without our authorization,” FCA stated. “Almost all firms and individuals offering, promoting or selling financial services or products in the UK have to be authorized by us.”
The also clarified that Kraken’s services fall under the regulated activities for which authorization is mandatory.
“This firm is not authorized by us and is targeting people in the UK. Based upon information we hold, we believe it is carrying on regulated activities which require authorisation,” the warning added.
A fake entity?
Though FCA specified the domain to be Kraken.com, told Finance Magnates that the email addresses and phone numbers provided by the regulator do not belong to it.
“Those email addresses and phone numbers do not belong to our company. We do not have any outbound phone numbers and all our employees use “@kraken.com” emails rather than “@gmail.com,” Kraken said.
Per Kraken, FCA has listed the details of scammers falsely using its brand name and it has reached out to the regulator for clarification.
Headquartered in San Francisco, Kraken is one of the oldest running crypto exchanges, offering trading services with a number of digital currencies.
The exchange also pointed out that its futures platform – CryptoFacilities – is already registered with the FCA.
Also, in the United States, the exchange ran into regulatory troubles when the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) mandated for crypto exchanges when it pulled out its services from the state.
The UK regulator also clarified that the mandatory licensing of such entities is in response to the increasing number of financial scams.
“Some firms act without our authorization and some knowingly run investment scams,” FCA warned. “We strongly advise you to only deal with financial firms that are authorized by us, and check the Financial Services Register to ensure they are. It has information on firms and individuals that are, or have been, regulated by us.”