MEXICO CITY, Mexico—Mexico’s Senate has approved a bill that would regulate the country’s fast-growing financial technology sector, including crowdfunding and cryptocurrency firms, paving the way for a vote by the lower house.
The new measures will allow Mexico to join a small but growing list of countries, including the United States and Britain, that have sought to regulate fintech firms, Reuters reported.
The bill, which seeks to promote financial stability and defend against money laundering and financing of extremists, is expected to pass in a final lower house vote by Dec. 15. If it is approved, the finer details would be hashed out in so-called secondary laws, Reuters reported.
The bill aims to set out clear rules and reduce costs to users. That should drive competition in a sector that includes crowd-funders and payment firms, Reuters reported.
The bill also proposes measures to regulate firms operating with virtual currencies like bitcoin. The central bank would be tasked with refereeing such operations, Reuters said.