Eswatini Compliance Report

Generated 2026-09-22

Partially Regulated

Regulatory Overview

Regulatory Status: Some rules exist but significant gaps; draft legislation or limited guidance
Key Regulator(s): Central Bank of Eswatini's, United Nations Security Council, Neither the Financial Services Regulatory Authority
Primary Legislation: Capital Markets Act, 2010 Eswatini
Travel Rule: Not adopted

Key Facts

aml Finding relevant notices requires checking the CBE's official publications or press releases section. Specific direct links to crypto-specific warnings can be ephemeral but general stance is consistent. Central Bank of Eswatini Official Website: https://www.centralbank.org.sz/ Financial Services Regulatory Authority Official Website: https://www.fsra.org.sz/ Eswatini operates no virtual-asset licensing regime: neither the Central Bank of Eswatini nor the Financial Services Regulatory Authority licenses virtual asset service providers, and the only hook is AML-side, created by the Anti-Money Laundering, Counter-Financing of Terrorism and Counter-Proliferation Financing (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2024, which directs supervisory authorities to establish a framework to regulate VASPs and under which VASPs are treated as accountable institutions registering with the Eswatini Financial Intelligence Centre. Specific amendments or regulations under these Acts defining VASPs and their obligations would need to be consulted. FIU Eswatini Official Website: https://www.fiu.org.sz/ (Look for legislation, annual reports, or guidance documents.) FATF Recommendations: Eswatini, through its membership in ESAAMLG, is expected to continue enhancing its legal framework to fully comply with FATF Recommendation 15 on new technologies and Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs). This implies that future amendments or new regulations could introduce more specific requirements for VASPs, which might eventually encompass more detailed aspects of custody. ESAAMLG Website: http://www.esaamlg.org/ (Provides information on AML/CFT efforts and FATF implementation in the region.)
enforcement Regulator Name: Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE) Entity Targeted: General Public (warnings) / Financial Institutions (guidance). Violation Type: N/A (warnings, not enforcement). Date: Ongoing, with several statements over the years. Outcome: Public awareness, cautious approach to crypto. Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE) Public Statement on Virtual Assets (Cryptocurrencies) Entity Targeted: General Public, financial institutions. Violation Type: N/A (Advisory/Warning). The Central Bank of Eswatini issued no cryptocurrency or virtual-asset statement on 28 January 2021. Its published crypto communications are an April 2018 announcement that the Bank was researching cryptocurrency, and the 2023 notice 'Considerations for Dealing in Cryptocurrencies', which states that cryptocurrencies have no legal tender status in Eswatini and that crypto investments or assets are currently unregulated. The Central Bank of Eswatini's 2023 notice 'Considerations for Dealing in Cryptocurrencies' states that cryptocurrencies 'do not exist physically and have no legal tender status in Eswatini' and that 'crypto investments or assets are currently unregulated in Eswatini; therefore, investors do not benefit from the legal protection associated with regulated instruments or products'. It is a consumer warning addressed to the public that directs readers to verify a provider's licence with the Central Bank of Eswatini and the Financial Services Regulatory Authority; it contains no directive to financial institutions and imposes no obligation.
licensing An investment of money or assets: The investor commits capital to acquire the token. In a common enterprise: The investment is pooled with others, or the value of the token is tied to a broader project or business venture managed by others. With an expectation of profits: The investor anticipates financial gain (e.g., capital appreciation, dividends, revenue sharing, or other forms of return) from holding the token. Derived solely or substantially from the efforts of others: The profits are expected to come from the managerial or entrepreneurial efforts of a third party (the issuer, promoter, or other entities), rather than the investor's own efforts. Security Tokens: These are tokens explicitly designed to represent traditional financial instruments. Equity Tokens: Represent ownership in an entity, entitling holders to profits, voting rights, etc. Debt Tokens: Represent a loan made to an entity, entitling holders to interest payments and principal repayment. Asset-Backed Tokens: Represent fractional ownership in real-world assets (e.g., real estate, art, commodities) with an expectation of profit from the asset's performance.
securities Primary legislation: Securities Act, 2010; Financial Services Regulatory Authority Act, 2010; Central Bank of Eswatini Order, 1974 (as amended); Money Laundering (Prevention) Act, 2016. None define "virtual asset," "VASP," or "digital asset security." The Money Laundering (Prevention) Act, 2016 (as amended) has not been amended to include VASP definitions, and no subsidiary legislation under the Act covers virtual assets. Issuer Regulation | Eswatini Stock Exchange (ESE) — this source confirms ESE regulates only traditional issuers. Regulatory bodies: The ESE administers listing and disclosure rules for traditional securities under the Securities Act, 2010. The FSRA, established under the FSRA Act, 2010, supervises non-bank financial institutions but has issued no VASP licensing rules, guidance notices, or regulatory sandboxes for crypto. The CBE (Central Bank of Eswatini) oversees monetary policy and banking supervision; it has published no circulars or directives on cryptocurrency. As of 2024-07-15, no crypto-related instruments were found in the FSRA official publication registers (fsra.co.sz) and CBE circular/directive database (centralbank.org.sz). ESE issuer regulations: Govern listing requirements, ongoing disclosure (annual financial statements, interim results, dividend declarations, AGM notices), and corporate actions (cautionary announcements, share repurchases). No provisions exist for tokenized securities, security token offerings (STOs), or crypto-asset listings. Issuer Regulation | Eswatini Stock Exchange (ESE) Listed issuers: As of 2024-07-15, the ESE lists eleven companies. Per the ESE Listed Companies page (https://www.ese.co.sz/issuers/listed-companies/), these are: AGS, FNBE (FNB Eswatini), GRYS (Greystone Partners), INALA (Inala Capital), NED (Nedbank Eswatini), NPC (Nkonyeni Pre-Cast), RSC (Royal Eswatini Sugar Corporation), SBC (Swaziland Beverages), SEL (Swazi Empowerment Limited), SWP (Swaziland Property), and AGSPAC. No tokenized securities or digital asset listings appear on this page as of the access date. FATF/ESAAMLG status: Eswatini has been an ESAAMLG member since 2007. The 2017 Mutual Evaluation Report (ESAAMLG, 2017) rated the jurisdiction Non-Compliant on Recommendations 13, 14, 15, and 26; the 2020 Follow-Up Report (ESAAMLG, 2020) noted progress but outstanding gaps. No FATF or ESAAMLG assessment of virtual asset regulation has been conducted. As of 2024-07-15, the ESAAMLG website (esaamlg.org) lists no post-2020 follow-up report or new mutual evaluation for Eswatini; the 2020 Follow-Up Report remains the latest published assessment. No VASP license category exists: Neither the FSRA, the ESE, nor the CBE has published a license type, application form, capital requirement, or structural requirement (local incorporation, board composition, operational presence) for cryptocurrency exchanges, digital asset custodians, or token issuers. Traditional securities licensing: Issuers seeking to list on the ESE must comply with the Securities Act, 2010 and ESE Listing Requirements, including minimum public float, financial history, and ongoing disclosure. These requirements have not been adapted for digital assets. Issuer Regulation | Eswatini Stock Exchange (ESE) No crypto-specific AML/KYC rules: The Money Laundering (Prevention) Act, 2016 and its regulations impose Customer Due Diligence (CDD), Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD), Suspicious Transaction Reporting (STR), and record-keeping obligations on "accountable institutions" (banks, insurers, securities dealers). VASPs are not listed as accountable institutions, creating a direct gap relative to FATF Recommendation 15 (2019 revised).
stablecoin Eswatini has no legal classification of stablecoins: no Eswatini statute, regulation or supervisory instrument defines a stablecoin or assigns it to a category of electronic money, payment token or security. The National Payments System Act 2023 provides for licensing of payment-system categories at section 9 and for licensing or registration of money- or value-transfer service providers at sections 10(1) and 16, and establishes no stablecoin or virtual-asset issuer category, while the Central Bank of Eswatini's 2023 notice records that crypto investments or assets are currently unregulated in Eswatini. The Central Bank of Eswatini's 2023 notice 'Considerations for Dealing in Cryptocurrencies' states that cryptocurrencies are not legal tender in Eswatini and that crypto investments or assets are currently unregulated, so holders receive none of the legal protection attaching to regulated instruments or products. The notice addresses cryptocurrencies and crypto assets as one class and singles out no stablecoin, and no Eswatini instrument treats a stablecoin as electronic money, as a payment instrument or as legal tender. Eswatini's payments statute is the National Payments System Act 2023, which is in force rather than prospective: section 9 provides for licensing of payment-system categories, section 10(1) and sections 16(1), 16(3) and 16(4) require money- or value-transfer service providers to be licensed or registered and impose sanctions on those operating without a licence, sections 29(3) and 29(4) require agents of such providers to be licensed or registered by the Central Bank of Eswatini, and sections 31(1) and 31(2) subject them to Eswatini's AML/CFT/CPF legislation, regulations and guidelines. No category in that Act covers stablecoin issuance. Eswatini imposes no reserve, backing, segregation or audit duty on stablecoin issuers, because no Eswatini statute or Central Bank of Eswatini instrument creates a stablecoin issuer category at all; the Bank's 2023 notice records that crypto investments or assets are currently unregulated in Eswatini. Eswatini's monetary anchor is the lilangeni, introduced in 1974 at par with the South African rand through the Common Monetary Area and still tied to it at one-to-one, which is a currency arrangement rather than a reserve rule binding a private issuer. Stablecoin issuance in Eswatini sits outside the prudential perimeter. The Central Bank of Eswatini regulates commercial banks, foreign-exchange bureaux, money- or value-transfer service providers and money remittances under the Central Bank Order 1974, the Financial Institutions Act 2005, the Exchange Control Order 1974 and the Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011, and none of those instruments reaches virtual assets: the 2011 Act as amended to 2016 uses none of the terms virtual asset, virtual currency, crypto, digital currency or electronic money. No reserve-backing, capital or audit requirement therefore applies to a stablecoin issuer in Eswatini. Eswatini operates no licensing regime for stablecoin issuers: neither the Central Bank of Eswatini nor the Financial Services Regulatory Authority publishes a virtual-asset or stablecoin licence, licence class, minimum capital floor, fee schedule or application process. Eswatini was rated Non-Compliant on FATF Recommendation 15 in the ESAAMLG mutual evaluation adopted in June 2022, and Recommendation 15 was not among the fifteen recommendations re-rated in the August 2025 enhanced follow-up report, so that rating stands. A prospective stablecoin issuer can obtain no authorisation from either Eswatini regulator. The Central Bank of Eswatini licenses banks, foreign-exchange bureaux and money- or value-transfer providers, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority licenses non-bank financial services, and neither issues a licence covering the issuance of a stablecoin or any other virtual asset. Admission to the Bank's FinTech Regulatory Sandbox, established under guidelines of May 2020 and confined to products and business models already regulated by the Bank, is a time-limited testing arrangement decided within 21 working days and is not a licence; those guidelines use none of the words crypto, cryptocurrency, virtual currency, virtual asset or stablecoin, and no participant register is published. Eswatini law confers no redemption right on the holder of a stablecoin: no Eswatini instrument creates a par-value redemption duty, a redemption deadline, a fee prohibition or a claim against an issuer's reserves, because Eswatini has enacted no stablecoin, e-money-token or asset-referenced-token regime. The Central Bank of Eswatini's 2023 notice records that crypto investments or assets are currently unregulated in Eswatini and that holders receive none of the legal protection associated with regulated instruments or products.
status The Kingdom of Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland) has a nascent regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and digital assets, with limited specific legislation directly targeting these financial instruments. Existing laws primarily focus on general anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) measures, which indirectly affect cryptocurrency activities. Eswatini's regulatory environment for digital assets is underdeveloped. The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) within the Reserve Bank of Eswatini oversees AML/CTF compliance, but there are no dedicated statutes expressly regulating cryptocurrencies. Currently, there is no specific licensing requirement for cryptocurrency exchanges or digital asset service providers in Eswatini. Entities operating within the financial sector must comply with general licensing requirements set by the Reserve Bank of Eswatini. Financial institutions and cryptocurrency-related businesses are required to implement robust AML/KYC procedures as mandated by the Eswatini Anti-Money Laundering Act. These requirements include customer identification, beneficial ownership disclosure, and ongoing monitoring of transactions. While specific enforcement actions targeting cryptocurrency activities are scarce, the FIU has the authority to impose penalties on entities failing to comply with AML/CTF regulations, including fines and potential criminal sanctions. Cryptocurrency transactions in Eswatini are subject to general taxation rules. Income derived from cryptocurrency trading may be taxable as capital gains, while mining activities could be considered business income. Regulatory Uncertainty: The absence of specific cryptocurrency regulations creates ambiguity for market participants, potentially leading to inconsistent enforcement and compliance challenges. Market Development Risks: Without a clear regulatory pathway, the growth of cryptocurrency markets in Eswatini may be hindered by investor caution and limited institutional participation.
travel rule No, not yet comprehensively adopted for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs). Eswatini's Recommendation 15 rating is Non-Compliant from the ESAAMLG mutual evaluation adopted in June 2022 and was not re-rated in the 4th enhanced follow-up report of August 2025, while Recommendation 16 was upgraded in that follow-up report from Non-Compliant to Partially Compliant. ESAAMLG conducted Eswatini's second-round mutual evaluation with an on-site visit from 24 May to 4 June 2021 and adopted the report in June 2022, rating Recommendation 15 Non-Compliant; Eswatini has no mutual evaluation report dated November 2020. Conduct a VA/VASP risk assessment. Implement a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework for VASPs, including registration/licensing and supervision. Apply AML/CFT obligations, including the Travel Rule, to VASPs. Eswatini has no virtual-asset travel-rule instrument and therefore no commencement date for one; section 10 of the Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011 imposes originator-information duties on financial institutions and money transmission service providers only, and the AML/CFT/CPF (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2024 requires supervisory authorities to establish a virtual-asset framework that has not been published. Eswatini sets no threshold for virtual-asset transfers because it has no virtual-asset travel-rule instrument, and section 10 of the Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011 requires originator information to accompany every cross-border wire transfer irrespective of amount; the USD/EUR 1 000 figure is the FATF de minimis standard and is not an Eswatini threshold.

Sources

This report is AI-generated from publicly available regulatory sources. Last updated: 2026-09-06. View full profile