The FCA published policy statements on 30 June 2026 setting out its final rules for cryptoasset regulation. This post considers two of them: the policy statement on stablecoin issuance and the policy statement on prudential requirements. Both sit within a wider set of final rules governing firms that will be authorised under the new UK cryptoasset regime, which becomes mandatory on 25 October 2027.
Stablecoin Issuance
The stablecoin policy statement finalises the rules for non-systemic UK-issued qualifying stablecoins. It governs issuance, backing assets, redemption, safeguarding and disclosures, and also deals with segregation and the statutory trust, the use of third parties to perform one or more parts of the issuance activity, and record-keeping and reconciliation.
The FCA has made a number of refinements to the proposed framework aimed at proportionality and clarity. These include:
- Simplifying the backing asset composition requirement by removing the need to estimate redemption forecasts;
- Confirming statutory trust arrangements for backing assets;
- Removing unallocated backing fund accounts;
- Adjusting redemption timelines so that KYC checks are completed before the redemption period begins;
- Making changes to permit limited intragroup custody subject to safeguards;
- Allowing a 5% excess in the backing asset pool;
- Clarifying the application of redemption requirements in the secondary market;
- Making sure holders can access historical disclosures; and
- Strengthening obligations to make prospective holders aware of their withdrawal rights.
The FCA presents this as a baseline for stablecoin regulation, with further work to follow as stablecoin use cases evolve.
Prudential Requirements
The prudential policy statement sets out the prudential framework for regulated cryptoasset firms. It spans capital, liquidity, risk management and public disclosure, dealing in particular with own funds, their definition, composition and the applicable requirements alongside concentration risk, liquid asset requirements, the overall risk assessment and the disclosure of prudential information.
The FCA has confirmed a number of changes made following consultation feedback, including:
- Stablecoin issuance capital requirement: following feedback on the calibration of the K-factor for stablecoin issuance, K-SII, to change the coefficient of K-SII from 2% to 1%;
- Market risk and counterparty default risk capital requirements: to make changes to the proposed two-tier classification of qualifying cryptoassets for capital purposes (Category A / B) to simplify the market risk framework; and
- Public disclosure of prudential information: to remove the proposed requirement to publicly disclose the own funds threshold requirement and the liquid asset threshold requirement and to introduce a proportionality framework based on own funds requirements for the public disclosure of prudential information.
The FCA has also published two consultations on non-Handbook guidance for the prudential regime: GC26/4: on the overall risk assessment under COREPRU 7 and GC26/5, on the overall risk assessment for CRYPTOPRU firms.
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