The Nexo cryptocurrency platform has resumed registration of new UK clients today after pausing for about 10 months due to compliance issues with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Nexo Resumes Onboarding New UK Clients After Aligning With FCA’s Guidelines
On Tuesday, September 3, 2024, the Nexo cryptocurrency lending platform announced that it has resumed onboarding new UK clients after it upgraded its platform to observe full compliance with the FCA’s Guidelines.
Last October, Nexo paused onboarding new UK clients. This happened a few days before the FCA enforced new rules for financial promotions on October 8, 2023.
The guideline stipulated that all crypto-related firms must register for self-approval of financial promotions and advertisements and also upgrade their platforms to allow new clients to have at least 24 hrs to reconsider their investment decisions.
Being unable to align with the new rules proposed by the FCA quickly, Nexo decided to pause the registration of new UK clients instead. However, the platform maintained the accounts of existing UK users.
Nexo was not the only company affected by the new guidelines. Other affected companies include Luno, Coinbase, Bybit, Binance, and Paypal. While Binance and Coinbase removed news feeds for UK users, Bybit exited the country.
Interestingly, Nexo has announced that it has implemented all necessary requirements set by the FCA’s guidelines and has resumed taking new customers.
Nexo Now In Full Compliance With FCA’s Guidelines
Although Nexo has stopped taking new UK customers, the company sees the UK as its cornerstone market, as stated by Elitsa Taskova, the company’s chief product officer.
Antoni Trenchev, Nexo co-founder, also declared that the company won’t leave the European markets.
As part of its restructuring process, Nexo dissolved Nexo Clearing and Nexo Financial Services Limited, its UK subsidiaries.
According to the announcement, Nexo has upgraded its system to comply with all FCA guidelines, including sending risk warnings to clients, introducing cool-off periods, and so on.
To fully align with the financial promotion rules, Nexo has partnered with Gateway 21 for promotions and advertisement approvals.
New Registration Process For Clients
The new Nexo’s registration process for clients now follows a simple checklist, which new customers can easily follow step-by-step.
All UK users were asked to fill out some sets of assessment questionnaires to categorize them into three groups: certified sophisticated investors, high-net-worth investors, and restricted investors.
The categorizing process was completed on July 16 July. Also, to enjoy continuous access to products and services, all UK users must fill out an “Investor Categorisation and Appropriateness Assessment” form.
