U.K’s NatWest Bank Limits Transfer to Crypto Exchanges Amid Regulatory Pressure

Amid the widespread crackdown by U.K’s topmost financial regulator - Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) - high street banking giant NatWest is curtailing the money flow to crypto exchanges operating in the country.

As reported by Reuters, the NatWest group has put a limit on the daily amount its customers can send to crypto exchanges. The banking giant noted that this decision comes amid growing concerns of investment frauds and scams.

NatWest, which serves more than 19 million customers in Britain, started imposing the temporary cap last week, June 24. The restrictions target several crypto exchanges including Binance. The high street bank hasn’t shared the details of the exact capping and the limits imposed in terms of fiat transfers.

Speaking to Reuters, an unnamed spokesperson for NatWest stated that they have spotted high amounts of crypto investment scams currently popping in the market. The spokesperson added: “To protect our customers from the criminals exploiting these platforms, we’re temporarily reducing the maximum daily amount that a customer can send to cryptocurrency exchanges as well as blocking payments to a small number of cryptocurrency asset firms where we have seen particularly significant levels of fraud-related harm for our customers.”

Last month in May 2021, NatWest launched a crypto scam alert for its mobile users. Jason Costain, NatWest’s head of fraud prevention told BBC: “We have prevented millions of pounds from being sent to crypto-criminals who are exploiting the high levels of interest in the currency. However, consumers should always be alert, especially to the use of fake websites and bogus celebrity endorsements”.

The recent action from NatWest comes as the Financial Conduct Authority has been tightening its grip on unregistered crypto firms operating in the country. Over the last weekend, FCA initiated strong regulatory measures on the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

The official statement from the FCA reads that Binance Markets Limited “is not permitted to undertake any regulated activity in the U.K. No other entity in the Binance Group holds any form of UK authorisation, registration or licence to conduct regulated activity in the UK”.

Last month, Binance was preparing for launching a digital assets marketplace in the U.K. However, being unable to meet FCA’s anti-money laundering requirements, finance has to withdraw its application.

Speaking to CNBC, an FCA spokesperson said: “Binance Markets Limited withdrew their 5MLD application on 17 May 2021 following intensive engagement from the FCA. The action taken today on Binance Markets Limited has been in train for some time.”