Chile Extends Fintech Oversight to Traditional Banks With April 30 Deadline

Chile's Comision para el Mercado Financiero spent most of 2025 enforcing its fintech licensing regime against standalone crypto firms and advisers. In February 2026 it pulled traditional banks and brokerages into the same framework. General Rule NCG 559, issued on February 9, adds a new Chapter X to NCG 502 that requires supervised institutions already offering fintech-adjacent services to notify the CMF and comply with the same operational obligations. They have until April 30 to identify and report those services. For a region where Mexico's crypto rules remain half-built and Argentina's are nonexistent, Chile's fintech regime keeps quietly expanding.

What NCG 559 does

The February 9 amendment closes a loophole. Ley Fintech (Law No. 21.521) and NCG 502 created a licensing regime for standalone fintech firms but left ambiguous how it applied to existing banks and brokerages launching fintech-adjacent products. NCG 559 makes it explicit: any supervised entity providing services that fall within the fintech perimeter (crypto custody, alternative transaction systems, robo-advice, order routing) must notify the CMF, comply with the relevant operational rules, and face the same AML obligations.

The CMF gave existing providers until April 30, 2026 to submit their notifications. That deadline is the operational test for how broadly Chile intends to police the fintech perimeter. Every major Chilean bank touches at least one covered activity.

The tiered capital regime (still)

For standalone fintechs, NCG 502's three-block capital structure is unchanged. Block 1 operators (initial or low-volume) are exempt from minimum capital and guarantee requirements. Block 2 operators need guarantees from UF 500 (~USD 17,500) and minimum capital of UF 1,000 (~USD 35,000) for custodians. Block 3 operators (consolidated, high-volume) face minimum capital from UF 5,000 (~USD 175,000) with full governance and reporting.

Regulated activities include crypto exchanges (classified as "alternative transaction systems"), custody, investment advice, order routing, and brokerage. The CMF does not publish a running count of approved vs. rejected applications, which makes the enforcement posture harder to track than in the EU.

AML obligations

Chile's AML framework, tightened by Circular No. 62 in March 2025, imposes the FATF Travel Rule on all crypto transactions exceeding USD 1,000. Every regulated entity needs a dedicated compliance officer and must file suspicious activity reports with the UAF (Unidad de Analisis Financiero). NCG 559 extends the same obligations to supervised institutions whose fintech arms previously operated in a lightly scrutinized corner of their broader banking licenses.

The Digital Peso reality check

The Central Bank of Chile's digital currency work has clarified in one direction: BCCh is focused on wholesale CBDC, not retail. Governor Costa has publicly framed the exploration as wholesale-first, aimed at tokenized bond settlement rather than consumer payments. The retail Digital Peso that some 2025 commentary anticipated for 2026 has not launched and is not imminent.

Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia remain behind Chile in standalone crypto regulation. Chile's April 30 deadline is the next genuine test of whether the fintech regime can scale beyond pure-play firms to the incumbents who touch most of the activity in practice.