UK Parliament launches inquiry into bank debanking of crypto firms ahead of October 2027 FCA regime

The UK Parliament’s Crypto and Digital Assets All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) has opened a formal inquiry into why banks refuse to open accounts for crypto businesses and block their payments. For PSPs and high-risk merchants, the timing matters: the group wants recommendations published before the FCA’s mandatory crypto regime begins in October 2027.

1. The inquiry was announced on Tuesday by co-chairs Lord Vaizey of Didcot and Labor MP Gurinder Singh Josan CBE. Written evidence will be accepted until August 31, so the APPG is setting a fairly clear window for banks, crypto firms, and industry bodies to put their case on the record.
2. The scope is not just “we got turned away by a bank” complaints. The APPG says it will examine difficulties opening and maintaining business accounts, transfer limits, payment blocks, and whether banks apply restrictions proportionately. In other words, it is looking at both account access and the day-to-day payment rails that keep a business alive.
3. The group will also compare the UK’s approach with the US, Hong Kong, Australia, and the European Union. That matters because banking access is usually where a regulator’s ambition to attract digital asset firms meets a bank’s risk committee and the answer gets very practical, very fast.
4. The APPG said crypto and digital asset firms have consistently reported difficulty accessing UK banking services, and that banking access is essential for legitimate businesses. For high-risk operators, that is the part that counts: if the account is closed or payments are blocked, compliance posture on paper does not matter much in practice.
5. The broader policy clock is running toward October 2027, when the FCA’s mandatory crypto regime is due to begin. The APPG wants its recommendations out before then, which means the debate over debanking is happening while the UK is still deciding how hospitable it wants its banking stack to be for digital assets.

For PSPs, acquirers, and banks that touch crypto flows, this is a useful signal: the issue is no longer being treated as a series of isolated account closures, but as a policy problem with a deadline attached.