The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a statement on Thursday reaffirming its position with regard to Gibraltar and Brexit .
A small piece of land jutting out of the southern coast of Spain, Gibraltar has been a British overseas territory since 1713.
Unlike mainland Brits, Gibraltarians voted overwhelmingly to remain within the European Union (EU).
Unfortunately for Gibraltar, the small territory only has 32,000 inhabitants which means the 96 percent of voters who wanted to stay in the EU didn’t have much impact on the wider Brexit referendum.
Speaking to Finance Magnates in mid-October, Alberto Isola, the territory’s Minister of Commerce, noted that there had been serious fears, much as there were in Canary Wharf, regarding Gibraltar’s ability to maintain a strong financial services industry post-Brexit.
Isola’s government immediately got to work and found that 92 percent of Gibraltar’s financial services business is with the UK.
Gibraltar - Blockchain Hub
Thus, Gibraltarian authorities made sure that businesses in the peninsula would be able to continue trading with the UK.
The FCA confirmed that this would be the case on Thursday, saying that, unlike firms operating from within the European Economic Area, Gibraltar will be able to exercise passporting rights with the UK.
That will ease the minds not just of Gibraltarian authorities, but the various firms working in their jurisdiction.
It will be a particular boon for the blockchain industry which is making leaps and bounds in the peninsula.
Unlike many other jurisdictions, Gibraltar has instituted a solid regulatory regime, giving DLT License to firms, with the aim of replicating the success it achieved in the online gaming sphere back in the mid-1990s.
A number of prominent firms have been awarded a DLT License from the local regulator.
This Wednesday, for example, social trading firm eToro announced that eToroX, its cryptocurrency and blockchain-based subsidiary, had received a DLT License from Gibraltar’s financial regulator.
