ISLAMABAD: The Senate’s cabinet panel has nodded its approval to the Virtual Assets Bill, 2025, a government legislative draft that seeks to establish a regulatory authority for the licencing, regulation, and supervision of virtual assets and their services providers across the country.
In this context, Rana Mahmood-ul-Hassan presided over the meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat that approved the bill on Wednesday.
The Section 6 of the bill provides for the establishment of the Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority, an autonomous corporate body empowered to licence, regulate and supervise virtual asset service providers in Pakistan.
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In accordance with the bill, the authority would also be empowered to “protect customers and investors dealing in virtual assets by establishing and enforcing appropriate safeguards and conduct of business requirements.”
The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Virtual Assets Bill, 2025 reads that the virtual assets, “being an evolving component of the modern financial ecosystem, necessitate a dedicated regulatory authority for licencing and supervision of virtual asset service providers, with the aim to ensure investor protection, transparency and market integrity.”
The authority will ensure investor protection, foster innovation, and promote transparency in the virtual asset market, reads the Statement of Objects and Reasons.
This authority will create an enabling environment for safe trading, prevent illegal activities like money laundering and fraud, and enhance global competitiveness, the statement adds.
“Therefore, a corresponding legal framework, empowering the authority, is also required to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and other illicit activities while promoting innovation, financial inclusion, economic growth and development of Shariah compliant virtual asset services aligned with international standards,” reads the statement.
Apart from Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and senior officials concerned, the meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat was attended by the committee members Sherry Rehman, Farooq Naek, Saleem Mandiwalla, Saadia Abbasi, Amir Chishti, Abdul Qadir, Samina Mumtaz Zehri, Jan Muhammad, Waqar Mehdi, and Afnan Ullah Khan.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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