Finance and Digital Assets is the most developed of the eight priority industries of the Gelephu Mindfulness City and the only one with a dedicated regulator. The Gelephu Financial Services Office licenses all financial services and virtual asset activities under the Financial Services Act 2025, whose General Prohibition bars any person from carrying on a regulated activity by way of business in GMC unless it is a Licensed Firm or an Exempt Firm. The regulated activities are listed individually, from accepting deposits, providing credit and money services through dealing, arranging, advising, custody and managing assets to managing a collective investment fund, effecting and carrying out contracts of insurance across seven life and nine non-life classes, and operating a trading facility. An applicant, which may be a body corporate or a partnership, must satisfy the Threshold Conditions in the GEN Rulebook, keep its head office and registered office in GMC, and have Approved Persons in the controlled functions, including a Senior Executive Officer, Compliance Officer and Money Laundering Reporting Officer. Capital, conduct, fund, market infrastructure and anti-money laundering requirements sit in the rulebooks applied through the Application of Laws Act 2024 rather than in the Act. Licensing follows a published seven-step process from an initial meeting through in-principle approval to licence issue, and a fast-track review exists for firms already licensed in Singapore, Abu Dhabi Global Market or Hong Kong, though it is not passporting. Charges are registered within thirty days under the Companies Act 2025, interest paid to non-residents attracts withholding, the company rate is 15%, and several finance concessions in the Income Tax Act 2025, including the fund manager exemptions and the finance and treasury centre rate, are enacted but await Gazette commencement.
Basnet Law Pte. Ltd. advises banks, lenders, asset and fund managers, insurers, brokers and payment businesses on activity mapping and perimeter analysis, Financial Services Licence applications and in-principle approval conditions, Approved Person appointments, anti-money laundering programmes, fund and captive structuring, change of control approvals, loan and security documentation, legal opinions for counterparties, and regulatory disputes.
