Kiwi Fintech Pioneer Lands Top UK Crypto Regulation Job

Former Financial Markets Authority (FMA) fintech leader Binu Paul has resurfaced as head of the UK regulator’s newly formed digital assets arm.

Paul, who left the FMA late last month, was named head of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) digital assets division following a global investigation by the UK regulator.

FCA established its digital assets division earlier this year and appointed long-time senior manager Victoria McLoughlin as interim head of the division in April this year.

At the time, McLaughlin said the role included “overseeing registered, unregistered and new entrant digital asset companies based in the UK and managing the risks that arise while realizing the UK government’s vision for cryptocurrencies. “Supporting the development of new institutions for

Paul is understood to be overseeing about 50 staff in a big step up from the FMA, where he more or less built the NZ regulator’s collaborative fintech model from the ground up. He”Fintech Forum” Last year, to simplify overall regulatory advice for start-ups in this space,

Nearly 40 cryptocurrency firms have registered with the FCA under recent rules, and any such firm serving UK customers will be required to be listed with the regulator for anti-money laundering purposes. I have.

The current UK government (under previous leadership) has defined the country as a “Global Crypto Asset Technology HubThis includes the fintech provisions of the broader Financial Services and Markets (FSM) Bill, which will be introduced to Congress this July.

Among other reforms, the FSM Act, which has yet to pass through the UK’s bicameral parliamentary system, will regulate so-called ‘stablecoins’ and similar digital assets as payments.

The UK Treasury said in a release at the time: and the resilience of new products. ”

But ongoing turmoil within the UK government, including the resignation of new Prime Minister Kwasi Kwarten last Friday after just 37 days in office, could sideline the FSM legislation. Kwarteng presided over a disastrous ‘mini-budget’ that triggered a crash in the UK bond market, a crisis in pension funds and an involuntary intervention by the Bank of England.

Prior to FMA, he was active in the Fintech world in New Zealand as the founder of several start-ups (notably SavvyKiwi, an online KiwiSaver comparison tool) and launched the industry’s first conference under the Finnotec brand.

He was previously Head of Business Strategy and Development for Tyndall Investment Management NZ (now Nikko), where he led research firm FundSource for seven years, leaving shortly after its sale to NZX.