The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has filed a lawsuit against several entities connected to the digital asset exchange HTX, formerly known as Huobi, accusing the platform of unlawfully promoting cryptoasset services to consumers in the United Kingdom.
The case, filed in London’s High Court on Tuesday, marks a rare civil action by the UK’s top financial watchdog against a major global exchange.
“This action is part of our commitment to protect consumers and uphold the integrity of UK financial markets.” The regulator’s move embodies its zero-tolerance stance toward overseas exchanges operating in the UK without registration or compliance oversight.
“The FCA has commenced civil proceedings in the High Court against HTX, a global crypto exchange, for unlawfully promoting cryptoasset services to UK consumers,” the agency said in an emailed statement.
The regulator recently opened consultations on applying full financial services-style regulation to crypto firms, including new requirements on governance, operational resilience, and financial crime prevention. The guiding principle, the FCA said, is “same risk, same regulatory outcome.”
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is reinforcing its message that the crypto industry will no longer operate outside the traditional financial rulebook.
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