[Brief] FCA Considers Exempting Tokenized Gold from Fund Rules to Defend London Market
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) released a consultation paper on September 13 proposing to exempt tokenized gold, tokenized precious metals and other real-world-asset tokens from fund-regulation rules under specific conditions, in a move to defend London’s position as a global hub for digital assets and tokenized real-world assets. The consultation paper recommends that tokenized real-world assets meeting specific conditions be classified as ’tokenized real-world assets’ rather than ‘collective investment schemes,’ thereby bypassing certain fund-regulation requirements including custody arrangements, investor-suitability assessments and minimum governance standards. The proposal is expected to complete public consultation in Q4 2026 and formally land in H1 2027, and is the FCA’s latest move in continuing to push an ‘innovation-friendly’ framework in digital-asset regulation.