FCA Confirms That Digital Assets Head Binu Paul Exited Less Than a Year After Assuming Role, Search for Replacement to Begin ‘Shortly’

The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) head of digital assets, Binu Paul, has left the organization less than a year after joining the FCA. 

According to his LinkedIn profile, Paul worked for the UK regulator for nine months between October 2022 and June 2023. 

When he joined the FCA, he replaced Victoria McLoughlin, who at the time was the interim head of digital assets. 

His departure was also confirmed by an FCA spokesperson, who told Cryptonews.com that: 

“We are very grateful for all the work Binu Paul has contributed to the Payments and Digital Assets Team.”

The spokesperson added that “Victoria McLoughlin has been appointed as the interim Head of Market Interventions, Digital Assets, bringing with her a wealth of experience from within the FCA.”

From 2020 until 2022, McLoughlin served as a Supervision Manager at the FCA and was responsible for the supervision of virtual asset service providers (VASPs) and cryptoasset firms.

Her LinkedIn profile shows that, since April 2022, she has been the ‘Head Of Department – Digital Assets (interim)’, where she is:

“Overseeing multiple teams of talented managers, supervisors, crypto SMEs, intelligence and blockchain professionals in developing effective threat assessments, supervisory responses & strategy to deliver clean, effective markets, protect consumers & deliver good outcomes for consumers and firms.”

All in all, she has worked for the FCA for more than a decade, starting as an Associate in November 2009. 

McLoughlin has a legal background, having studied law at the University of Leicester and Nottingham Trent University.

The spokesperson for the FCA told Cryptonews.com that,

“We will shortly begin advertising and recruiting for the Head of Department vacancy.”

FCA is Deep in Crypto (Regulation)

The FCA has been working on regulating the crypto industry for years.

The regulator keeps a register of cryptoasset firms for which it is “responsible for registering, supervising and enforcing, for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing purposes,” it says.

There are currently 42 registered companies, including Gemini Payments UK, Fidelity Digital Assets, Bitpanda Custody, Galaxy Digital UK, Genesis Custody, Moonpay UK, Bitstamp UK, eToro UK, Revolut, and others.

The regulator approved Bitstamp and Interactive Brokers’ application to join the financial regulator’s registry of crypto asset service providers just days ago.

However, due to the various regulatory issues, it has been facing worldwide, major crypto exchange Binance recently canceled its registration with the FCA. 

Meanwhile, the FCA announced earlier this month that crypto services advertisers would face tougher rules in the UK from October 8, with a 24-hour “cooling-off” period for first-time crypto investors under the new marketing rules.

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