Law No. 20,345, enacted on 10 September 2024, empowers the Central Bank of Uruguay (BCU) to regulate and supervise Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), thereby extending the list of entities under its supervision.
However, the BCU will only supervise those VASPs whose services relate to virtual assets that, in its judgement, may be considered financial instruments. The Law provides that VASPs under BCU supervision must obtain authorisation to operate, based on criteria of legality, timeliness and suitability.
In addition, those offering services for the purchase and sale of virtual assets, as defined by the BCU, will be subject to its regulation and oversight, even if they are not among the entities supervised by the BCU.
The regulator will therefore be responsible for regulating VASPs and for determining in which cases their services relate to virtual assets that may be considered financial. This regulation is likely to cover activities such as the exchange, transfer, issuance and custody of virtual assets, and financial advice on them, provided they are carried out on a regular and professional basis.
The full text of the Law is available at the following link: Law No. 20,345
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