HTX settles FCA case with UK promotion restrictions to 2031

UK customers are directed to residual asset arrangements

HTX said its operational changes had been implemented before the settlement was reached.

“These arrangements were in place well before the present resolution was reached,” the exchange said.

“The settlement reinforces these enhancements and measures, and does not constitute any admission of liability, wrongdoing or misconduct by HTX.”

The company said it had worked collaboratively and in good faith to address the regulator’s concerns. It described the resolution as ending legal uncertainty and said it remained willing to engage with regulators and other industry participants.

The FCA’s account of the period before litigation differs. Its announcement said HTX repeatedly failed to engage before proceedings prompted steps to exit the country.

Steve Smart, the regulator’s executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said overseas incorporation does not remove firms from the reach of British law.

“Our action means HTX is leaving the UK and can no longer target UK consumers,” Smart said.

The regulator’s warning page for HTX says customers cannot use the Financial Ombudsman Service to resolve complaints involving the firm and do not receive Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection if things go wrong.

Court records trace settlement efforts to March

The regulator filed its claim on Oct. 21, 2025, and publicly announced the enforcement action on Feb. 10, 2026. At that time, the FCA described it as its first enforcement action against a crypto firm illegally marketing products to UK consumers.

Its February statement alleged that HTX continued publishing unlawful promotions on its website and social media after earlier warnings. Although new UK registrations had been restricted, the regulator said existing customers could still log in and view promotions, with no assurance that the restrictions would remain permanent.

The agency requested that social media companies block the exchange’s accounts for UK consumers and that Apple and Google remove its applications from their UK stores.

The case page records that the High Court authorized service outside the UK and by alternative means on Feb. 4. The named defendants included Huobi Global and unidentified people controlling the exchange, its applications and its promotional accounts.

By March 31, a consent order had paused proceedings between the FCA and Huobi Global for three months to allow settlement efforts. The order permitted either side to end that pause with two weeks’ written notice and required a draft consent order if an agreement was reached.

Separate sanctions and new licensing rules remain in view

As previously reported by crypto.news, HTX disputed the scope of UK sanctions imposed in May, arguing that Huobi Global was legally separate from the operating exchange. The company said user funds were unaffected and that it would engage with British authorities.

In August, Justin Sun said Binance restrictions involving HTX applied only to UK and EU users. Binance’s notice did not itself specify that limitation, according to the August coverage, which reported that the platform cited compliance requirements in jurisdictions where it operates.

The same coverage reported that the UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation considered HTX subject to British financial sanctions because of its ownership by Huobi Global.

Meanwhile, the FCA’s September guidance required crypto firms to assess which permissions they need under the incoming authorization framework. Existing anti-money laundering registrations will not automatically become approvals under the new rules.

The regulator opened applications on Sep. 30 and instructed firms intending to continue operating in the UK to apply by Feb. 28, 2027. The new cryptoasset regime takes effect on Oct. 25, 2027.