Matrixport’s UK Unit Becomes an Appointed Representative of UK FCA-Authorised Varramore Partners

Partnership allows its UK subsidiary to conduct regulated activities in the UK, and to introduce investment products and services to UK-based institutional investors

Matrixport, one of the world’s largest and most trusted digital assets financial services ecosystems, announced today a major milestone in its international expansion efforts. Its United Kingdom (UK) wholly-owned subsidiary, Matrixport Advisors Limited, has been appointed as an Appointed Representative (AR) of Varramore Partners Limited (Varramore), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK.

This partnership allows Matrixport to conduct a range of investment-related activities in the UK, an international financial hub and a global leader in institutional adoption of digital assets.

Gerard O’Brien, Managing Director of Varramore, said “We are delighted to partner with Matrixport and to support their expansion into the UK market. As our AR, we will help Matrixport to introduce and promote digital asset investment products and services to UK-based institutional investors in line with the FCA’s regulatory requirements, principles and expectations. We have been impressed with Matrixport’s commitment towards regulatory compliance best practices to date and are confident of a long and fruitful partnership.”

The AR status validates Matrixport’s commitment to operating in compliance with the FCA’s rigorous standards for financial service providers and allows the firm to introduce investment products and services to UK based institutional investors.

Toby Norfolk-Thompson, Matrixport’s Chief Investment Officer US & UK, said “This achievement is a testament to our commitment towards best practices in regulatory compliance in the jurisdictions in which we operate. The UK, being a European hub of financial innovation and stability, presents an opportunity for us to tap into its thriving digital asset market to introduce an exciting and unique digital-asset product suite for institutional clients.”

The UK’s digital asset market is experiencing rapid growth, with the latest Chainalysis Report placing it as the largest digital asset sector in Western Europe by transaction volume, with $233 billion in transactions between July 2021 and June 2022. The country is home to a wealth of talent, diverse funding sources, a globally respected legal and regulatory framework, making it a prime destination for the digital asset industry. 

In addition to its partnership with Varrome, Matrixport has established a track record of strategic collaborations with leading organisations and solutions in digital asset management services. The firm recently announced the partnership with Chainalysis to tap into their transaction monitoring and AML tools, and last year launched a partnership with Notabene to implement a protocol-agnostic, end-to-end solution for global Travel Rule compliance. 

About Matrixport

Matrixport is one of the world’s largest and most trusted digital assets ecosystem providing one-stop crypto financial services to meet the emerging needs of generating long term wealth in digital assets. It forges strategic collaborations with early stage Web3 innovators, helping them build, grow and scale and the company’s services include Cactus Custody™, spot OTC, fixed income, structured products, lending as well as asset management.

With USD4B in actively managed digital assets, Matrixport achieved pre-money unicorn valuation in 2021 and was named by CB Insights as the 50 most promising blockchain companies in the world in 2022. Its digital prime brokerage business, Matrixport Institutional, serves over 800 institutions across the US, Europe and Asia, offering best-in-class access, leverage, capital Introduction and custody services. Headquartered in Singapore, Matrixport holds licences in Hong Kong and Switzerland. 

About Varramore

Varramore is a boutique professional service provider offering a range of bespoke services to investment firms that are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”), seeking to become authorised and regulated by the FCA or wishing to carry out regulated activities as an Appointed Representative (“AR”) of a firm that is authorised and regulated by the FCA. Varramore combines in-house investment sector experience with consulting practice knowledge to provide clients with a “best of both” service. In addition to possessing extensive experience in the areas of regulatory hosting, governance, risk, compliance, accounting, finance and tax, Varramore understands how investment firms operate on a day-to-day basis. This combination allows Varramore to deliver practical, pragmatic and proportionate services to our clients in a manner that adds values and improves operational efficiency. Varramore was established in 2016 and is headquartered in London.

Photo by Fred Moon on Unsplash

Read other stories: Oxbridge Re announces new subsidiary ,SurancePlus, to issue tokenized reinsurance securities

How to avoid disaster in the tokenization of financial assets