The Congress of the Republic of Guatemala authorized the Complete Legislation for the Prevention and Repression of Cash Laundering or Different Belongings and the Financing of Terrorism, recognized as Decree 15-2026.
The legislators authorized with 147 votes in favor of a complete of 160 deputies. The regulation superior within the third debate after a rare session and can come into power three months after its publication within the Official Gazette.
This new regulation, which was initially offered in September 2025, updates a authorized framework that was 25 years outdated and explicitly consists of, for the primary time within the historical past of the Central American nation, the cryptocurrency sector beneath the direct supervision of the State.
Change platforms, custody corporations and digital asset service suppliers will turn out to be thought of obligated topics earlier than the Particular Verification Intendance (IVE)no matter whether or not they’re native or not.
The laws repeals earlier decrees established in 2001 and 2005 with the aim of unifying monetary management insurance policies and complying with the suggestions of the Monetary Motion Activity Drive (FATF).
The choice responds to the obsolescence of earlier authorized instruments within the face of the dynamics of the present market and the emergence of latest digital belongings within the international economic system. With this, the Guatemalan authorities search to strengthen the nation’s worldwide credibility amongst traders and the correspondent banking system.
Though the decree continues to be awaiting its official publication and the event of its technical rules, the textual content defines that the preventive strategy will transfer from conventional banking to all financial actions.
Digital Asset Service Suppliers (PSAV) should adapt their operations and assume the identical administrative tasks as banks and different regulated entities.
In response to the legislative doc reviewed by CriptoNoticias, the rules will regulate particular actions inside the cryptocurrency ecosystem, akin to alternate, custody, transfers, the issuance of digital belongings and the administration of buying and selling platforms.
The inspection and identification (KYC) required by the authorities shall be strictly utilized for the prevention of cash laundering and terrorist financingso it doesn’t prejudge or assure the acquiring of automated industrial licenses to function.
Regulated suppliers must register with the Superintendency of Banks by way of the Particular Verification Intendancy. Failure to adjust to this registration will lead to administrative sanctions starting from $500 to $500,000. relying on the severity of the fault.
Companies within the cryptocurrency sector shall be compelled to implement a risk-based strategy. This consists of the creation of a prevention handbook with monetary crime mitigation insurance policies, the appointment of a compliance officer from senior administration and the execution of periodic inner and exterior audits, as required by the FATF.
One other essential level of the laws is the prohibition of anonymity in transactions with digital belongings. Platforms should apply strict due diligence or know-your-customer insurance policies, which requires figuring out and verifying the identification of the consumer and the ultimate beneficiary by way of trusted sources earlier than establishing any industrial relationship.
Likewise, the rules require that controls be extra rigorous when processing operations with applied sciences that make it troublesome to hint funds.
When it comes to reporting, cryptocurrency firms will report on to the IVE any uncommon transaction that lacks an apparent financial or authorized foundation by way of a Suspicious Transaction Report. Likewise, the duty to take care of a each day report and periodically report on any money transaction that exceeds $10,000 or its equal in nationwide foreign money is established.
The brand new Guatemalan regulation designed to mitigate cash laundering and that addresses cryptocurrencies, destroyed initiative 6538 which, as this media reported, sought to manage using bitcoin (BTC) and different digital belongings within the nation. In actual fact, details about that invoice is now not obtainable on the transparency portal of the Guatemalan Congress.
The variation to Decree 15-2026 generates a debate within the enterprise surroundings because of the appreciable improve in operational and compliance prices for firms that beforehand operated outdoors the supervision radar beneath the FATF commonplace. The fantastic print and technical thresholds that can govern the each day operations of digital asset suppliers shall be outlined as soon as the Government Department points the complementary rules.
