Finance and Digital Assets (GMC Priority Industry): Legal Advisory

Finance and Digital Assets is the most developed of the Gelephu Mindfulness City's eight priority industries and the only one with a dedicated regulator. The Gelephu Financial Services Office licenses financial services and virtual asset activities under a single statute and operates rulebooks and an approved person regime that a new entrant must satisfy before it can trade. Basnet Law Pte. Ltd., the first law firm incorporated in the Gelephu Mindfulness City, advises banks, exchanges, custodians, token issuers, fund managers and payment firms under the Financial Services Act 2025 and the Income Tax Act 2025. This page explains what the framework provides and how we advise a firm from expression of interest to licence.

Basnet Law Pte. Ltd. advises clients in this pillar on:

• Perimeter analysis: whether the business carries on a regulated activity by way of business in GMC, and which exclusions apply
• Legal advice on Financial Services Licence applications to the Gelephu Financial Services Office, from scoping through the licensing process
• Advice on approved person requirements for the senior executive officer, compliance officer, money laundering reporting officer and other controlled functions
• Anti-money laundering, sanctions, conduct of business and prudential compliance programmes built to the rulebooks
• Virtual asset structuring: exchanges, custody, fiat-referenced token issuance and tokenisation
• Advice on incorporation requirements, the resident director and banking
• Tax structuring around the 15% company rate, the strategic and development company route and the statutory concessions

Read the full guide: Legal Services for Finance and Digital Assets in GMC.