Philip Hammond, a vocal advocate for cryptocurrencies and the former UK chancellor from 2016 to 2019, has come under scrutiny for potentially violating lobbying regulations against former ministers. A report by the Financial Times on February 9 revealed that in March 2021, Hammond met with undisclosed Treasury officials and John Glen, then Economic Minister of the Treasury, along with the CEO of encryption firm Copper, Dmitry Tokarev. Treasury documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request shed light on this interaction.
According to the report, Glen instructed officials in an internal email to utilize Hammond as a conduit for communication with Tokarev. A week after Treasury officials met Tokarev, Hammond conversed with Glen over the phone, informing him that the Copper CEO was impressed by the discussions. Hammond also conveyed Copper's apprehensions to the finance minister regarding the pace of regulatory changes for cryptocurrency companies. Notably, these exchanges transpired prior to Hammond officially assuming the role of senior advisor at Copper in August 2021.
Given Hammond's tenure as chancellor ending in July 2019, any prospective private sector engagement related to his former department's lobbying activities requires approval from the Business Appointments Advisory Committee. Hammond asserted to the Financial Times that he did not view his interaction with Glen in spring 2021 as lobbying, emphasizing that he refrained from soliciting the economy minister to arrange any meeting between the Treasury and the cryptocurrency industry, deeming it inappropriate.
The former chancellor characterized his March 2021 communication with Glen as routine contact with a "close political friend," downplaying any notion of impropriety. Similarly, a spokesperson for the UK Treasury refuted allegations of wrongdoing, stating that Treasury officials routinely engage with various cryptocurrency companies to enhance their understanding of the industry and inform policy development, ensuring its appropriateness and safety.
Hammond's public remarks in June 2022 underscored concerns over the UK's lag in cryptocurrency regulation compared to its EU counterparts. He noted the country's historical agility in adopting new technologies but expressed reservations about its responsiveness in cryptocurrency regulation, attributing potential delays to "bandwidth issues" and "capacity issues."
