The Congress of the Republic of Guatemala authorized the Complete Legislation for the Prevention and Repression of Cash Laundering or Different Property 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 legislation superior within the third debate after a unprecedented 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 previous and explicitly contains, for the primary time within the historical past of the Central American nation, the cryptocurrency sector underneath the direct supervision of the State.
Alternate platforms, custody companies and digital asset service suppliers They are going to be thought-about obligated topics earlier than the Particular Verification Administration (IVE).
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 Pressure (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 recent digital belongings within the world economic system. With this, the Guatemalan authorities search to strengthen the nation’s worldwide credibility amongst buyers and the correspondent banking system.
Though the decree remains to be awaiting its official publication and the event of its technical laws, 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 obligations as banks and different regulated entities.
In keeping with the legislative doc reviewed by CriptoNoticias, the laws will regulate particular actions inside the cryptocurrency ecosystem, resembling 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 might be strictly utilized for the prevention of cash laundering and terrorist financingso it doesn’t prejudge or assure the acquiring of computerized business licenses to function.
Regulated suppliers should register with the Superintendency of Banks by means of the Particular Verification Intendancy. Failure to adjust to this registration will end in administrative sanctions starting from $500 to $500,000. relying on the severity of the fault.
Corporations within the cryptocurrency sector might be compelled to implement a risk-based strategy. This contains 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 id of the consumer and the ultimate beneficiary by means of trusted sources earlier than establishing any business relationship.
Likewise, the laws require that controls be extra rigorous when processing operations with applied sciences that make it troublesome to hint funds.
By way of reporting, cryptocurrency corporations will report on to the IVE any uncommon transaction that lacks an apparent financial or authorized foundation by means of a Suspicious Transaction Report. Likewise, the duty to take care of a every day document and periodically report on any money transaction that exceeds $10,000 or its equal in nationwide forex is established.
The brand new Guatemalan legislation designed to mitigate cash laundering and that addresses cryptocurrencies, destroyed initiative 6538 which, as this media reported, sought to manage the usage of bitcoin (BTC) and different digital belongings within the nation. In truth, details about that invoice is now not accessible 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 enhance in operational and compliance prices for corporations that beforehand operated exterior the supervision radar underneath the FATF commonplace. The tremendous print and technical thresholds that may govern the every day operations of digital asset suppliers might be outlined as soon as the Government Department points the complementary laws.
