The initiative received unanimous approval from the Committee on Budget, Finance and Public Administration (COFAP), with favorable votes from PSD, PS, Chega, and CDS-PP, the only parties participating in the vote.
The matter concerns a government proposal that incorporates European regulation 2023/1113 into national legislation. This regulation strengthens measures to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, adapting existing financial sector rules regarding fund transfers to the reality of crypto-assets.
With the new measures, “crypto-asset service providers based in Portugal” will be considered financial entities under the supervision of the Bank of Portugal. They must comply with the same rules banks follow to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing through fund transfers.
Thus, the Bank of Portugal will oversee “crypto-asset service providers based in Portugal,” as well as those “based in another EU member state established in the national territory in a non-branch form,” and credit institutions or “entities of an equivalent nature, operating in Portugal under the free provision of services.”
If financial entities identify a “high risk” of money laundering in fund or crypto-asset transfers, they must “know the entire circuit of the funds or crypto-assets” and “all parties involved” to ensure that “only entities or persons duly authorized are involved” in processing crypto-asset operations.
With a proposal from PSD and CDS-PP, if approved in a global final vote and enacted by the President, the initiative will come into effect on July 1, 2026. This is alongside another initiative, also voted on and approved today, which incorporates a European regulation known as “Mica” to enhance supervision of crypto-asset company activities.
The PS presented a similar initiative, suggesting the new rules only take effect in the second half of the next year. However, since the PSD and CDS-PP proposal was validated first, this alteration was not put to a vote and was ultimately set aside.
In the same meeting, a resolution project from PAN was also voted on and unanimously approved. It recommends the government apply policies to combat misleading crypto-asset advertising on social media platforms.
