The All-Party Parliamentary Group has written to banking institutions asking them to account for account restrictions on FCA-authorised digital asset firms
Gurinder Singh Josan MP and Lord Vaizey of Didcot, co-chairs of the Crypto and Digital Assets All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), sent a letter on 11 August to the CEOs of the UK’s leading banks and banking service providers, asking whether they provide accounts to digital asset sector firms, what restrictions they apply to related transactions, and whether those policies will change when the new regulatory regime comes into force.
In the letter, the two parliamentarians write that “Access to banking services could be one of the main barriers to growth for UK digital asset firms, and could undermine the success of the UK’s future regulatory regime.” The document forms part of the parliamentary inquiry launched on 21 July, which examines the scale of the problem, its effects on investment, and whether government or regulatory intervention is needed.
The APPG notes it has repeatedly received reports from firms in the sector unable to open or maintain bank accounts, as well as restrictions on payment limits for transactions linked to digital assets. The parliamentarians acknowledge that banks must comply with anti-money laundering and consumer protection obligations, but challenge the application of blanket restrictions to entire categories of firms rather than to individual risk profiles. The letter explicitly asks that banking decisions reflect “the individual risk profile of a firm, rather than simply the sector in which it operates.”
Economic Secretary to the Treasury Lucy Rigby had already stated in Parliament that the government does not expect firms authorised by the FCA to face restrictions from banking institutions solely because they operate in the sector. Banks have also been asked to identify the regulatory, legal, compliance, commercial and risk factors that shape their approach. The deadline for written evidence is 31 August, by which date the APPG will collect responses in order to formulate recommendations to the government. The range of entities under examination includes exchanges, custodians, payment operators, wallet providers, tokenisation firms and stablecoin issuers.
