<p>In December, SC Ventures, Standard Chartered's venture arm, announced that it was partnering with Northern Trust to launch a new crypto custodian.</p> <p>The plan for Zodia, as the venture was dubbed, was to start operating this year once it scored official approval from the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority, a market regulator that has been building a registry of regulated firms in the crypto space, and other regulatory conditions.</p> <p>Zodia appears to have scored that FCA approval, <a href="https://register.fca.org.uk/s/firm?id=0014G00002WLWWUQA5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">public records now show</a>. The FCA's website shows that Zodia's registration is effective dated July 15. </p> <p>As reported by The Block, the FCA has pushed to bring the country's crypto companies under its auspices, developing a register of firms that have won its approval. The register was first announced in 2020, and the <a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/108979/uk-treasury-fca-cryptoasset-register-resources" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FCA recently committed</a> to devoting more resources to its oversight of crypto firms and the building-up of the register. To date, <a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/109479/uk-regulator-approves-fifth-crypto-company" target="_blank" rel="noopener">only a handful of firms</a> have been added to the official register. </p> <p>Standard Chartered is also working to <a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/106944/standard-chartered-institutional-crypto-brokerage-exchange-europe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">develop</a> an institutional crypto brokerage and exchange service in partnership with BC Group, the parent company of the Hong Kong-regulated crypto exchange OSL.</p>