Cryptocurrency trading is “too dangerous” to remain outside mainstream financial regulation and could pose “a systemic problem” without action, the deputy governor of the Bank of England has warned.
Speaking for the first time since the founder of the crypto trading platform FTX was arrested and charged with massive fraud, Sir Jon Cunliffe told Sky News the Bank is considering regulation to protect retail investors in the “casino” of crypto trading, as well as the wider financial system from potential crypto shocks.
Sam Bankman-Fried was extradited on Wednesday from the Bahamas to the US where he will appear in a New York court charged with eight counts of fraud, money laundering and breaking campaign finance.
The collapse of FTX left more than one million customers unable to withdraw assets worth an estimated $8bn.
Prosecutors allege he used FTX’s customers’ money to cover losses in his private crypto hedge fund Alameda Capital in what the company’s new chief executive told Congress was “old-fashioned embezzlement”.
An estimated 80,000 of FTX’s customers are based in the UK, with individual liabilities as high as £5m in life savings according to a lawyer acting for dozens of victims.
Louise Abbott, a crypto-fraud specialist, told Sky News: “These individual investors have invested anything from a couple of thousand pounds up to about £5m, so massive amounts of money, all completely frozen, I’m going to use the word frozen rather than lost, because hopefully there is going to be something given back to them at some point. But this is huge money, huge money lost or stuck, or frozen in time.”
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Crypto credibility
The episode is a huge blow to the credibility of cryptocurrencies, digital assets that draw their value not from state backing, but from relative scarcity and the willingness of other investors to trade in them.
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Mr Bankman-Fried had cultivated links in Washington and on Wall Street, making millions of dollars in political donations and attracting high-profile investors to his platform.
His fall has emphasised the volatility of crypto investment and the lack of regulation in an industry that, despite widespread scepticism, is attracting growing attention from the financial mainstream.
Efforts to regulate
In the UK, regulators have tried and failed to impose their writ on crypto exchanges domiciled offshore, while the government has a goal, set out in April by Rishi Sunak when he was chancellor, to make the UK a “global crypto assets hub”, an ambition that depends in large part on effective regulation.
Sir Jon, deputy governor with responsibility for financial stability, told Sky News the Bank’s regulation efforts were aimed at protecting individuals and maintaining financial stability.
“There’s a lot of activity that’s developed over the last 10 years on the trading and sale of crypto assets, assets without any intrinsic value, so they’re incredibly volatile. And all of that has grown up outside of regulation,” he said.
“What we saw in FTX… is a number of activities which in the regulated financial sector, would have had certain protections. We saw things like clients’ money appears to have gone missing, conflicts of interest between different operations, transparency, audit and accounting. All of the perhaps boring things that happened in the normal financial sector, didn’t really happen in that set of activities. And as a result, I think a lot of people have lost a lot of money.”
Comparing crypto trading to a casino, Sir Jon said investors who wanted to speculate should be able to do so without the risk of losing access to their funds.
“It is in effect, in my view, a gamble, but we allow people to bet, so if you then want to get involved in that you should have the ability to in a place that is regulated in the same way that if you gamble in a casino it’s regulated. You should have the full information on the tin as to what you’re doing.”
The Bank also has to address the risk to financial stability that could flow from digital assets as institutional investors and banks explore exposure to an estimated $1trn in crypto assets.
“This trading of crypto assets was not big enough to destabilise the financial system, but it was starting to develop links with the financial system,” Sir Jon said. “I don’t know how that will develop. But we had banks and investment funds and others who wanted to invest in it. I think we should think about regulation before it becomes integrated with the financial system and before we could have a potential systemic problem.
“So I don’t think it will be possible to say this can be just kept outside of the financial system. It’s too dangerous. I think it is difficult but possible to say, let’s bring it in, where and when we think we can manage the risk to the standards we’re used to.”
Potential for blockchain
While cryptocurrencies have proved consistently volatile since the inception of Bitcoin 14 years ago, the underlying technology, blockchain, is considered to have significant potential across industries to manage data, and speed up and simplify transactions.
Blockchain provides proof of transactions on a public record known as a distributed digital ledger.
Each new exchange of cryptocurrency is recorded on a “block” which is added to the “chain” containing details of the new transaction and the previous transaction, meaning it can only be falsified by altering all previous links.
The system is maintained and overseen by every computer linked to the network rather than a central monitoring entity.
Mercedes is exploring the potential of blockchain to manage the data that will enable autonomous driving, while Vodafone is exploring its utility in managing the billions of micro-transactions that will be facilitated by the next generation of internet technology.
‘Smart money’ could also simplify global supply chains, with the prospect of micro transactions using stable tokens being linked to individual parts in production processes.
“There are technologies here which could, and I stress could, be of real use in the normal financial system, more efficient ways of doing things, potentially more resilient ways of doing things,” said Sir Jon.
“That hasn’t been proven in the crypto world. But if we could provide a regulatory space where people can see if they can develop products using this, we might be able to get the benefit of some of those technologies.”
The Bank of England’s own digital coin
As part of this process the Bank of England is consulting on plans to develop its own central bank digital coin, an electronic version of sterling that would carry the same security as a pound coin, but with the digital flexibility that could one day replace cash.
“Physical cash will always be made available by the bank as long as people want it and many people depend on it. But it’s not fully usable in the way we live now. So the question for the Bank of England is that as the way we as society changes, as we live our lives more digitally, should we continue to provide money to the public which is usable across a range of transactions?
“This would be a digital equivalent of the’ I promise to pay the bearer’ promise, which in the end underpins confidence in money in the UK. Whenever you want, you can turn that money you hold in the bank into basically Bank of England money backed by the state with that promise to pay the bearer.
“We want to ensure that as physical cash becomes less usable in many parts of the economy, perhaps we need to offer something digitally to provide that underpinning.”
Tax rises announced during the recent budget will hit businesses rather than encourage growth, the head of one of the UK’s most prominent business groups will warn on Monday.
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has joined a choir of voices opposing Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s fiscal measures, which the Labour Party claims are needed to plug a £22bn “black hole” left by 14 years of Tory government.
Labour put growth at the heart of their campaigning during the last general election, but business believe the £40bn tax rises announced last month – the largest such increase at a budget since John Major’s government in 1993 – will stifle investment.
Rain Newton-Smith, who heads the CBI, is expected to say at the group’s annual conference in London that “too many businesses are having to compromise on their plans for growth”.
She will say: “Across the board, in so many sectors, margins are being squeezed and profits are being hit by a tough trading environment that just got tougher.
“And here’s the rub, profits aren’t just extra money for companies to stuff in a pillowcase. Profits are investment.”
Ms Newton-Smith will add: “When you hit profits, you hit competitiveness, you hit investment, you hit growth.”
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which monitors the government’s spending plans and performance, has previously said most of the burden from the tax increase will be passed on to workers through lower wages, and consumers through higher prices.
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Last week, dozens of retail bosses signed a letter to the chancellor warning of dire consequences for the economy and jobs if she pushes ahead with budget plans.
Up to 79 signatories joined British Retail Consortium’s (BRC’s) scathing response to the fiscal announcement, which claimed Labour’s tax rises would increase their costs by £7bn next year alone.
It warned that higher costs, from measures such as higher employer National Insurance contributions and National Living Wage increases next year, would be passed on to shoppers and hit employment and investment.
The letter, backed by the UK boss of the country’s largest retailer Tesco, said: “The sheer scale of new costs and the speed with which they occur create a cumulative burden that will make job losses inevitable, and higher prices a certainty.”
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From October: ‘Raising taxes was not an easy decision’
‘Businesses will now have to make a choice’
A few days after the budget, Chancellor Reeves admitted she was “wrong” to say higher taxes were not needed during the election campaign – as she warned businesses may have to make less money or pay staff less to cover a tax increase.
But she claimed the previous government had “hid” the “huge black hole” in finances and she only discovered the extent of it once her party was voted in.
She told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “Yes, businesses will now have to make a choice, whether they will absorb that through efficiency and productivity gains, whether it will be through lower profits or perhaps through lower wage growth.”
Potential suitors have again begun circling ITV, Britain’s biggest terrestrial commercial broadcaster, after a prolonged period of share price weakness and renewed questions about its long-term strategic destiny.
Sky News has learnt that a number of possible bidders for parts or all of the company, whose biggest shows include Love Island, have in recent weeks held early-stage discussions about teaming up to pursue a potential transaction.
TV industry sources said this weekend that CVC Capital Partners and a major European broadcaster – thought to be France’s Groupe TF1 – were among those which had been starting to study the merits of a potential offer.
The sources added that RedBird Capital-owned All3Media and Mediawan, which is backed by the private equity giant KKR, were also on the list of potential suitors for the ITV Studios production arm.
One cautioned this weekend that none of the work on potential bids was at a sufficiently advanced stage to require disclosure under the UK’s stock market disclosure rules, and suggested that ITV’s board – chaired by Andrew Cosslett – had not received any recent unsolicited approaches.
That meant that the prospects of any formal approach materialising was highly uncertain.
The person added, however, that Dame Carolyn McCall, ITV’s long-serving chief executive, had been discussing with the company’s financial advisers the merits of a demerger or other form of separation of its two main business units.
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Its main banking advisers are Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Robey Warshaw.
ITV’s shares are languishing at just 65.5p, giving the whole company a market capitalisation of £2.51bn.
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The stock rose more than 5% on Friday amid vague market chatter about a possible takeover bid.
Bankers and analysts believe that ITV Studios, which made Disney+’s hit show, Rivals, would be worth more than the entire company’s market capitalisation in a break-up of ITV.
People close to the situation said that under one possible plan being studied, CVC could be interested in acquiring ITV Studios, with a European broadcast partner taking over its broadcasting arm, including the ITVX streaming platform.
“At the right price, it would make sense if CVC wanted the undervalued production business, with TF1 wanting an English language streaming service in ITVX, along with the cashflows of the declining channels,” one broadcasting industry veteran said this weekend.
“They would only get the assets, though, in a deal worth double the current share price.”
Takeover speculation about ITV, which competes with Sky News’ parent company, has been a recurring theme since the company was created from the merger of Carlton and Granada more than 20 years ago.
ITV said this month that it would seek additional cost savings of £20m this year as it continued to deal with the fallout from last year’s strikes by Hollywood writers and actors.
It added that revenues at the Studios arm would decline over the current financial year, with advertising revenues sharply lower in the fourth quarter than in the same period a year earlier because of the tough comparison with 2023’s Rugby World Cup.
Allies of Dame Carolyn, who has run ITV since 2018, argue that she has transformed ITV, diversifying further into production and overhauling its digital capabilities.
The majority of ITV’s revenue now comes from profitable and growing areas, including ITVX and the Studios arm, they said.
By 2026, those areas are expected to account for more than two-thirds of the group’s sales.
This year, its production arm was responsible for the most-viewed drama of the year on any channel or platform, Mr Bates versus The Post Office.
In its third-quarter update earlier this month, Dame Carolyn said the company’s “good strategic progress has continued in the first nine months of 2024 driven by strong execution and industry-leading creativity”.
“ITV Studios is performing well despite the expected impact of both the writer’s strike and a softer market from free-to-air broadcasters.”
She said the unit would achieve record profits this year.
ITV and CVC declined to comment, while TF1, RedBird and Mediawan did not respond to requests for comment.
The family which has owned Ann Summers, the lingerie and sex toy retailer, for more than half a century is to explore options for the business which could include a partial or majority sale.
Sky News has learnt that the Gold family is close to hiring Interpath, the corporate advisory firm, to work on a strategic review which could lead to the disposal of a big stake in the chain.
Retail industry sources said this weekend that Ann Summers had been in talks with Interpath for several weeks, although it has yet to be formally instructed.
The chain, which was founded in 1971 and acquired by David and Ralph Gold when it fell into liquidation the following year, trades from 83 stores and employs over 1,000 people.
The family continues to own 100% of the equity in the company.
Sources said that some dilution of the Golds’ interest was probable, although it was far from certain that they would sell a controlling stake.
In a statement issued in response to an enquiry from Sky News, Vanessa Gold, Ann Summers’ chair, commented: “We, like many other retailers, are dealing with the unhelpful backdrop to business of the decisions announced by the government at the Budget and the rising cost to retail.
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“As a family-owned business, we are in a fortunate position and have committed investment for over 50 years.
“This has created a robust and resilient business.
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“We are exploring a number of options to further grow the brand into 2025 and beyond.”
Ms Gold is among many senior retail figures to publicly criticise the tax changes announced in the Budget unveiled by Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, last month.
The British Retail Consortium published a letter last weeks signed by scores of its members in which they warned of price rises and job losses.
Private equity firms and other retail groups are expected to express an interest in a takeover of Ann Summers.
One possible contender could be the Frasers billionaire Mike Ashley, who already owns upmarket rival Agent Provocateur.
Any formal process is unlikely to yield a result until next year, with the key Christmas trading period the principal focus for the shareholders and management during the next month.
Ann Summers is one of Britain’s best-known retailers, with a profile belying its relatively modest size.
In the early 1980s, Jacqueline Gold, the then executive chairman who died last year, conceived the idea of holding Ann Summers parties – a key milestone in the company’s growth.
At its largest, the chain traded from nearly twice the number of shops it has today, but like many retailers was forced to seek rent cuts from landlords after weak trading during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This week, The Daily Telegraph reported that the Gold family had stepped in to provide several million pounds of additional funding to Ann Summers in the form of a loan.
Vanessa Gold – Jacqueline’s sister – also asked bankers to explore the sale of part of the family’s stake in West Ham United Football Club last year.
That process, run by Rothschild, has yet to result in a deal.