UK consults on carving institutional clients out of the promotions regime
The regulator says retail protections should not apply identically to professional counterparties, but wants evidence first.
The UK's conduct regulator has opened a consultation on whether its crypto financial-promotions rules should be applied differently to communications aimed exclusively at professional clients.
The current regime requires risk warnings and cooling-off periods calibrated to retail investors. Institutional firms argue those steps are meaningless when the recipient is a licensed counterparty with its own risk committee.
The regulator's discussion paper is non-committal, asking for evidence on how promotions are actually targeted and whether existing client-categorisation rules are being applied rigorously.
Consumer groups warn that any carve-out will be tested at the edges, where firms categorise sophisticated retail investors as professional clients on thin documentation.
Responses close in the autumn; any resulting rule changes would follow a further consultation on draft text.
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