The following financial services activities are regulated in GMC and require a Financial Services Licence ("FSL") from the Gelephu Financial Services Office ("GFSO").

An entity that intends to perform any of these regulated activities is required to obtain an FSL from the GFSO prior to commencing their business in GMC.

The Gelephu Financial Services Office "GFSO" is responsible for regulating all financial services and virtual assets activities conducted in or from GMC.

The timeline varies depending on the complexity of business activities and the quality of submission. On average, successful applicants can expect to receive the In-Principle Approval "IPA" from the GFSO between 6-8 months upon submission of a licence application. Note that an IPA does not allow applicants to commence conducting regulated activities in GMC. They are still required to fulfill the IPA conditions such as incorporating an entity in GMC, opening a bank account in GMC, and other regulatory requirements as may apply.

Virtual assets activities in GMC are regulated under the same regulatory regime that applies to traditional financial services (i.e. non-virtual assets activities).

The legislation governing traditional financial services and virtual assets in GMC is the single omnibus Gelephu Financial Services Act ("FSA") 2025, and its subsidiary legislation termed "Rulebooks". Activities regulated under this framework can be carried out with respect to either traditional assets (e.g. securities) or virtual assets (e.g. spot virtual assets).

In general, the same regulatory requirements apply to firms in GMC regardless of whether they are carrying out traditional financial services or virtual assets-related ones. These key differences are that there are specific additional rules that apply to virtual assets activities, and these are clearly stated in the FSA and its subsidiary Rulebooks. In addition, for firms engaged in virtual asset (i.e. crypto) activities, they will also need to comply with additional Virtual Asset Guidance.

Virtual assets must meet the GFSO's criteria of "Accepted Virtual Assets" to be able to be offered in or from GMC. Applicants for an FSL will be required to demonstrate to the GFSO their assessment of how their proposed list of virtual assets meet the following key criteria:

• Traceability in terms of being able to conduct blockchain analytics to trace if these virtual assets have interacted with sanctioned wallets.

• Security in terms of how secure is the blockchain that the virtual asset is on.

• Market profile in terms of how long the virtual asset has been in existence, its market capitalization, liquidity and whether there has been any adverse media regarding the virtual asset and/or the blockchain it runs on.

• Liquidity venues in terms of whether there are exchanges, market-makers and other liquidity providers that support the virtual asset.

In general, the following virtual assets would be considered as Accepted Virtual Assets in GMC:

• BTC

• ETH

• BNB

• USDC

• USDT

Firms seeking to offer virtual assets outside of this list are required to contact the GFSO and explain how their proposed virtual assets meet the criteria of "Accepted Virtual Assets". The GFSO will issue a "No Objection" should the firm be able to adequately demonstrate that these virtual assets meet the said criteria.

Yes, applicants can apply to the GFSO to issue stablecoins in GMC. Issuing stablecoins falls under the regulated activity of "Issuing a Fiat-Referenced Token". Applicants should contact the GFSO for a discussion should they wish to issue stablecoins in GMC.

Yes. In addition to the GFSO requirements applicable to all firms conducting the regulated activity of Providing Money Services, money service businesses in GMC are also required to comply with the additional requirements that virtual asset firms are subject to.

A Recognised Foreign Jurisdiction refers to a jurisdiction that GSO has designated as a Recognised Foreign Jurisdiction by notice published on the FSO's website. The initial list of Recognised Foreign Jurisdictions shall include Singapore, Japan, ADGM, DIFC, Hong Kong and India. The FSO will publish and update the list of Recognised Foreign Jurisdictions from time to time

1. First contact the GFSO at gfso@gmc.bt to arrange an initial meeting.

2. At the initial meeting, you will need to present your proposed business model and explain why you wish to set up in GMC. Subject to the outcome of this initial meeting, the GFSO may invite you to submit an application for a Financial Services Licence and send you the application form(s).

3. When you submit your application form(s), the GFSO will issue the invoice for the non-refundable application fee you are required to pay.

4. The GFSO will review your application and request meetings with you where required. This may include interviewing key personnel from your business.

5. If your application is successful, you will receive an In-Principle Approval ("IPA") containing a number of pre-conditions you must satisfy before you are issued the actual Financial Services Licence. Note that the IPA does not permit you to conduct your business in GMC yet.

6. You must fulfill the IPA conditions, which will include incorporating a company in GMC via the Gelephu Corporate Registration Office ("GCRO") department within the GMCA, opening a bank account in GMC, injecting the required regulatory capital, obtaining office space in GMC, hiring key personnel, etc.

7. Once you have fulfilled all IPA conditions, the GFSO will issue the Financial Services Licence to you, which allows you to commence your business in GMC.

Successful applicants which have obtained a Financial Services Licence ("FSL") from the GFSO are required to incorporate an entity in GMC and secure a physical office in GMC. Key functions such as the CEO, Compliance Officer and Money Laundering Reporting Officer will be required to obtain a GMC work visa, which allows them to be resident in GMC.

The board of directors and employees are not required to be hired at the point of licence application to the GFSO. One of the IPA conditions will be that these individuals are hired before the GFSO issues the actual FSL to the applicant.

Applicants which demonstrate considerable economic substance in GMC, including hiring Bhutanese citizens, are eligible to apply for tax incentives in GMC.

This depends on the type of regulated activities that an applicant is applying for.

As part of the application process, the GFSO will discuss the capital requirements with the applicant. If an applicant is applying for multiple regulated activities, the capital requirement will be the highest amongst all the regulated activities.

For Insurance Only

Below list the regulated activities and its application fee and annual supervision fee:

No, receiving an IPA does not permit the applicant to commence business in GMC yet. Only upon fulfillment of the IPA conditions (which may include requiring the applicant to incorporate an entity in GMC, open a bank account in GMC and inject regulatory capital, and hire the key persons in the firm) will the GFSO issue the Financial Services Licence to the applicant, allowing it to start its business in GMC.

Applicants are not required to have a bank account during the licence application process. When successful applicants for an FSL are incorporating an entity with the separate Gelephu Corporate Registration Office ("GCRO"), GCRO will offer applicants the option of opening an account at DK Bank, the official digital bank of GMC. GCRO, in partnership with DK Bank, will require applicants to submit bank account opening KYC information, which will facilitate the streamlined opening of their bank account at DK Bank.