The UK\u2019s approach to cryptoassets was outlined in the 2018 Cryptoassets Taskforce report, and in July last year the FCA set out its position in relation to the regulatory perimeter in this space. The government and regulators have since taken steps to continue encouraging responsible innovation in this area, while also mitigating risks to consumers and markets.<\/p>
For instance, this January the Treasury transposed the cryptoasset provisions set out in the EU Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5MLD). This will combat the risk of cryptoassets being used for illicit activity, in support of the government\u2019s aims for the sector.<\/p>
More broadly, the government is committed to creating an environment where tech businesses can thrive by investing in areas such as talent, cutting-edge research and growth finance. Venture capital investment in the UK tech sector grew by 44 per cent in 2019, from £7.1bn to £10.1bn. This was a faster growth rate than both the US and China.<\/p>
The financial regulators continue to provide a platform that facilitates innovation in this space. For example, the Financial Conduct Authority has accepted a significant number of DLT-based projects into its Regulatory Sandbox to help enable the adoption of this technology to deliver better financial services with appropriate consumer safeguards.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4051", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for John Glen"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Salisbury"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "John Glen"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2020-02-04", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2020-02-04T11:51:13.27Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "14"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2020-01-27", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Cryptocurrencies"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress he has made on creating an economic environment in which digital currencies can be developed.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1586", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Adam Afriyie"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Windsor"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Adam Afriyie"} ], "uin" : "8202"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1170412", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Treasury"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1170412/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Government has set an ambitious, legally binding target to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from the UK by 2050.<\/p>
<\/p>
Although there are no plans at present to reduce the VAT charge on electric vehicles, the Government keeps all taxes under review and assesses them against a range of fiscal and environmental considerations. The Government already makes available an incentive for the public to purchase electric vehicles over conventional vehicles: the Plug-in Car Grant (PiCG) provides grants of up to £3,500 for the purchase of a new battery electric vehicle. PiCG was launched in 2011 and has supported the purchase of around 170,000 Ultra Low Emission Vehicles.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4655", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Simon Clarke"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Mr Simon Clarke"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2020-01-16", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2020-01-16T09:26:29.663Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "14"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2020-01-13", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Electric Vehicles: VAT"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans the Government has to increase the uptake of electric cars by removing VAT on the purchase of zero emission vehicles.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1586", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Adam Afriyie"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Windsor"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Adam Afriyie"} ], "uin" : "2460"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1130448", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Treasury"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1130448/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publishes annual statistics relating to income tax, VAT and corporation tax by industry (including the Financial and Insurance Activities Sector). However, HMRC cannot identify receipts from the UK FinTech industry specifically.<\/p>
<\/p>
For other taxes, industry-level information is not available.<\/p>
<\/p>
For business rates, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government collects data only at local authority level and is unable to provide a breakdown by industry.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3991", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Jesse Norman"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Hereford and South Herefordshire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Jesse Norman"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-06-14", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-06-14T07:46:18.553Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "14"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-06-06", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Financial Services: Taxation"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the UK FinTech industry paid the Exchequer in tax revenue in (a) 2017-18 and (b) 2016-17 financial years.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1586", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Adam Afriyie"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Windsor"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Adam Afriyie"} ], "uin" : "261178"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1130449", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Treasury"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1130449/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The independent Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) is responsible for assessing the performance of Open Banking, and HM Treasury\u2019s view is informed by their assessment.<\/p>
<\/p>
The OBIE\u2019s latest published assessment of Open Banking performance, made in March 2019, shows that in that month the average availability of Open Banking APIs was 97%, the average response time was 798 milliseconds, and that 38.2 million successful API calls had been made, representing over 97% of the total number of calls made to APIs.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4051", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for John Glen"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Salisbury"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "John Glen"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-06-13", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-06-13T13:36:10.54Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "14"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2019-06-06", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Bank Services: Standards"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what key performance indicators his Department uses to assess the performance of Open Banking; and what recent assessment he has made of the performance of Open Banking.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1586", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Adam Afriyie"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Windsor"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Adam Afriyie"}
], "uin" : "261179"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1130450", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Treasury"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1130450/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "The Government established the Cryptoassets Taskforce \u2013 comprised of HM Treasury, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England \u2013 in 2018 to explore the risks and potential benefits of cryptoassets and the underlying distributed ledger technology (DLT). The Taskforce\u2019s final report[1]<\/sup><\/sup> concluded that benefits associated with the use of cryptoassets may arise in the future, but that the most immediate priorities for the authorities are to mitigate the risks posed by cryptoassets to consumers and markets, and to prevent the use of cryptoassets for illicit activity. As part of this, the Government will consult on its approach to cryptoassets this year. In addition, the authorities continue to encourage the responsible development of legitimate DLT and cryptoasset-related activity in the UK. <\/p>