Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has written directly to Premier League football clubs warning that sponsorship arrangements with unauthorized cryptocurrency exchanges and trading platforms may expose them to criminal liability, money-laundering risks, and enforcement actions. 

The FCA said it has identified a rise in club partnerships with firms that appear to be operating unlawfully in the UK, either by providing regulated financial services without authorization, or by making unauthorized financial promotions. Both constitute criminal offenses under the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) 2000, the agency said. 

The regulator declined to identify specific clubs or deals it is focused on but the FCA’s intervention comes as several top-flight clubs maintain active partnerships with crypto and trading firms not on its register of authorized firms. In April, Chelsea extended its sponsorship agreement with crypto exchange BingX, and Manchester City carries OKX, another crypto exchange, on its shirtsleeves, though neither firm is FCA-authorized, the Financial Times reported. 

Newcastle United is partnered with trading company VT Markets, which has appeared on the FCA’s warning list of unauthorized firms since 2023, while crypto group LAK3 Company sponsored Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 2024-25 season and is also on the FCA warning list, the FT said. 

“Millions of football fans trust their club’s badge,” Lucy Castledine, the FCA’s director of consumer investments, said in a statement. “Clubs should not let unauthorized financial firms exploit that loyalty by putting potentially dodgy products in front of millions of fans.”

In a letter signed by Fiona Mackinnon-Miller, head of the FCA’s Scams, Promotions, Engagement and Perimeter department, the regulator warned that sponsorship arrangements with unauthorized firms “risk conferring legitimacy on these firms and may expose UK consumers to harm.” Funds received from such a firm may constitute criminal property under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, Mackinnon-Miller wrote. 

Clubs that promote a sponsor’s financial products in their own communications could themselves breach FSMA’s financial-promotions restriction, she said in the letter. 

The FCA set out baseline due diligence steps it expects clubs to follow before signing and throughout any sponsorship agreement, including confirming a firm’s authorization status, assessing whether its products constitute regulated activities under UK law, and verifying that adequate controls such as geo-blocking are in place to prevent UK consumers from accessing services. The regulator also wrote separately to the Premier League about its concerns with crypto sponsorship, the FT reported.

The clubs previously agreed to remove gambling brands from the fronts of match shirts, following a government signal in February that clubs could face bans on gambling sponsors lacking a UK license. Crypto and trading firms have moved aggressively to fill that commercial space, the FT noted.