UK to end ban on retail investors buying crypto exchange-traded notes

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's financial regulator is to remove a ban on consumers buying crypto exchange-traded notes (ETNs), ditching its previous position of wanting to keep them out of the hands of retail investors.

The Financial Conduct Authority said on Friday that allowing retail investors to buy ETNs would support growth and competitiveness, in the latest sign that the UK is shifting its approach to crypto as the government seeks to grow the economy and support a digital assets industry.

Last year the FCA had approved the launch of crypto ETNs for professional traders but banned retail investors from access, calling the products "ill-suited" because of "the harm they pose".

"We want to rebalance our approach to risk and lifting the ban would allow people to make the choice on whether such a high-risk investment is right for them given they could lose all their money," David Geale, executive director of payments and digital assets at the FCA, said in a statement on Friday. The proposal will now go out for consultation.

Britain in April published draft laws for bringing cryptocurrencies under compulsory regulation for the first time, aligning it with the United States' approach, rather than the European Union, which has built rules tailored to the industry.

To be sold to individual consumers, the ETNs will need to be traded on an FCA-approved investment exchange, the regulator said.

A ban on retail investors trading cryptoasset derivatives would remain, the watchdog added.

(Reporting by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes. Editing by Jane Merriman)