Kyrgyzstan is tightening oversight of companies operating with virtual assets, as well as their owners, transfers and compliance with anti-money laundering requirements.
The relevant amendments have been made to a 2025 Cabinet of Ministers resolution.
If violations of legislation on combating the financing of criminal activities and money laundering are identified during remote monitoring, an on-site inspection or an audit of a virtual asset service provider, the relevant materials must be submitted within three working days to the authority responsible for licensing and regulating the crypto market.
Based on the findings, a case on an offense may be initiated and sanctions imposed, including the suspension or revocation of a license.
In addition, the National Agency for Virtual Assets and Blockchain Technologies under the President must provide the Financial Intelligence Service at least once a month with updated electronic registers of licensed virtual asset service providers, information on crypto mining certificates issued, and data on their beneficial owners.
The agency will also submit quarterly statistics on violations, fines, suspended and revoked licenses, as well as cases of operating without a license.
The Financial Intelligence Service, in turn, will provide the regulator with information on new money-laundering and criminal-financing schemes involving virtual assets.
Requirements for virtual asset transfers are also being tightened. Transfers above the established threshold must be accompanied by complete information about the sender and recipient, regardless of the country where they are registered or located.
A separate set of amendments concerns checks on company owners. During licensing, registration and the approval of executives or transactions involving the acquisition of 25 percent or more of a company’s capital, authorized bodies must request information about owners, beneficial owners and executives from the Financial Intelligence Service, the Interior Ministry and national security agencies.
A response must be provided within 10 working days. The response will indicate whether there is information that calls into question the applicant’s good business reputation or points to a possible connection with criminal activity.
The database of beneficial owners is also being expanded. It will include not only ownership stakes but also other forms of control, including through relatives, agreements, veto rights, the appointment of management, profit distribution and other mechanisms.
Financial institutions and other supervised entities must submit updated beneficial ownership information to the Financial Intelligence Service no later than three working days after identifying any changes.
The rules for cash currency exchange are also changing. For any single cash purchase or sale of som or foreign currency, customers must be identified using an identity document and checked in sanctions lists, regardless of the transaction amount.
Mandatory customer identification and screening are also being introduced for cash deposits into bank accounts, cards and electronic wallets through payment terminals, including through remote identification.
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