---
title: "Chile’s Fintec Law (Law 21.521): scope, registration and what the CMF requires"
url: "https://www.unknowngravity.com/en/articulos/chile-fintec-law"
site: Unknown Gravity
published: "2026-10-02T21:00:58+00:00"
modified: "2026-10-02T21:00:58+00:00"
language: en-US
description: "As a general rule, Chile's Fintec Law (Law 21.521) requires anyone providing one of its seven financial services in Chile to register in the Registry of Financial Service Providers and to obtain…"
section: "Home > Cryptocurrencies and tokens > Chile’s Fintec Law (Law 21.521): scope, registration and what the CMF requires"
---

# Chile’s Fintec Law (Law 21.521): scope, registration and what the CMF requires

**As a general rule, Chile's Fintec Law (Law 21.521) requires anyone providing one of its seven financial services in Chile to register in the Registry of Financial Service Providers and to obtain prior authorisation from the CMF for each service (arts. 5 and 7).** The Financial Market Commission (CMF) sets out the how and the how much in rule NCG 502 of 12 January 2024, amended by NCG 524 and NCG 559. This guide explains the law, often written "Fintech Law". How to structure a tokenization project in the country is covered in [asset tokenization in Chile](/en/articulos/asset-tokenization-in-chile).

## What the Fintec Law is and when it applies

Law 21.521 was enacted on 22 December 2022 and published in the Official Gazette on 4 January 2023. It has applied since 3 February 2023, except for titles II (services) and III (open finance), which came into force with the CMF rule (first transitory article). Its principles include financial customer protection and anti-money-laundering, and the CMF must regulate with risk-based proportionality and technological neutrality (art. 1). Title III (arts. 16 to 27) also creates the Open Finance System, which the CMF implements through NCG 514 and which falls outside this guide.

## Which services it regulates and who does not need to register

The law regulates "the commercialisation" of services (art. 2), not the issuance of assets. Anyone providing one of these seven must register (art. 5, with definitions in art. 3):

- Crowdfunding platform (art. 3 no. 10).
- Alternative trading system (art. 3 no. 13).
- Brokerage of financial instruments (art. 3 no. 9).
- Order routing (art. 3 no. 6).
- Credit advice and investment advice (art. 3 nos. 1 and 2).
- Custody of financial instruments (art. 3 no. 5).

The provider must be a legal entity with an exclusive line of business and, if it is foreign, domiciled in Chile (arts. 5 and 6). NCG 502 (section I.A) treats as providing services in Chile anyone who directs their offer to residents by any means, whatever their country of origin. Banks, securities brokers, stock exchanges, fund managers, insurers and other already supervised entities provide the related services without registering (art. 5, second paragraph), but since NCG 559 (9 February 2026) they must notify the CMF beforehand.

## What the law requires and what NCG 502 requires

The law sets what is required and leaves the how and the how much to the CMF. The CMF may waive or ease requirements depending on size or type of client, but never registration (art. 4). NCG 502 does this through three proportionality "blocks", from 1 (fewest clients and lowest volume) to 3 (sections IV.C.6 and IV.E.6).

| Area | Law 21.521 | NCG 502 (updated text) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Registration | Mandatory (art. 5); exclusive line of business and disqualifications (art. 6) | Form and documents; exceptions on line of business and domicile (I) |
| Authorisation | Prior and per service; maximum term of 6 months (art. 7) | Information per service (II.A to II.F); exemption when serving only qualified investors (II.G) |
| Disclosure | What each service must disclose (art. 8) | Plain language, questions and answers, annual review (III) |
| Guarantees | Brokerage, order routing and custody (art. 10) | 500 UF for order routing with 100 or more clients (V.B) |
| Capital | Brokerage and custody: the higher of 5,000 UF and 3% of risk-weighted assets (art. 11) | That figure only in block 3; 1,000 UF in block 2 (V.B) |
| Governance and risk | Policies and controls, including cybersecurity (art. 12) | Board, committees, internal audit and policies per block (IV) |
| Reporting | Information for supervision (art. 2, final paragraph) | Quarterly financial statements and audits (IX); NCG 530 manual |

## Registration in the Registry of Financial Service Providers

The application is filed on the CMF website, states the services to be provided and evidences identity and legal capacity (art. 6; NCG 502, I.A). It comes with, among other things, the incorporation deeds, a statement of no disqualification, the group structure and the business plan (NCG 502, I.A). The CMF has 30 business days to decide, suspended while the applicant makes corrections, and registers within 3 business days once they are made (art. 6).

An entity cannot register if, in the previous 10 years, it was sanctioned with cancellation for a serious infringement, or if its principal shareholders (10% or more of the capital), directors or managers were (art. 6). For institutional projects, NCG 502 lifts the exclusive-business requirement for anyone providing only advice, order routing, a platform or an alternative trading system to qualified investors (I.C.2), and allows a foreign entity without a Chilean domicile to register if it serves only qualified investors in Chile and has had no sanctions or charges for serious infringements in 10 years (I.C.3).

## Authorisation of each service: requirements and timelines

Registration alone does not allow a provider to operate (NCG 502, XII; CMF Official Letter 248490 of 31 December 2025). Each service requires prior authorisation; the CMF has 6 months to decide, suspended while the applicant makes corrections, and may suspend an authorisation at any time for non-compliance or as a preventive measure (art. 7).

- **Crowdfunding platform** (NCG 502, II.C): procedures against fraudulent projects and illicit funds, mechanisms to adjust investors' risk exposure, and economic, legal and financial viability reviews for projects seeking more than 20,000 UF. Neither the law nor NCG 502 sets a maximum amount per project or per investor; we compare this with the region in [real estate crowdfunding in Latin America](/en/articulos/real-estate-crowdfunding-latin-america).
- **Alternative trading system** (II.D): operational capacity and internal rules in blocks 2 and 3. It may only admit crypto-assets with a public document setting out their technical specifications and the buyer's rights, and it cannot admit primary placements (IPOs or ICOs) without authorisation as a crowdfunding platform.
- **Brokerage and custody** (II.F): guarantee, audited financial statements without qualifications, adjusted capital calculation and operational capacity.

Providers offering only advice, a platform, order routing or an alternative trading system to qualified investors, with no sanctions or charges for serious infringements in 10 years, are exempt from applying for authorisation and from NCG 502, subject to an annual statement (II.G). The exemption does not cover brokerage or custody.

## Minimum capital and guarantees by service

Only three services carry prudential requirements (arts. 7, 10 and 11). Guarantees take the form of a bank guarantee (boleta bancaria) or an insurance policy (art. 10), and NCG 502 scales the figures by block (section V).

| Service | Guarantee (art. 10) | Minimum capital (art. 11) | NCG 502 (V.B) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Crowdfunding platform | No | No | — |
| Alternative trading system | No | No | — |
| Investment and credit advice | No | No | — |
| Order routing | Yes | No | Exempt with fewer than 100 active clients; 500 UF with 100 or more |
| Brokerage | Yes | The higher of 5,000 UF and 3% of risk-weighted assets (up to 6%) | Block 1: adjusted capital never negative; block 2: 1,000 UF; block 3: the legal figure |
| Custody | Yes | Same as brokerage | Same as brokerage |

If capital falls below the minimum, the entity submits a remediation plan within 5 calendar days; if it has not corrected the shortfall within 6 months, it must stop and transfer its clients, whose assets cannot be seized for the entity's debts (art. 11). From 1 July 2027, an add-on of 0% to 3% of risk-weighted assets applies, depending on the quality of risk management (NCG 502, V.E and XII).

## Corporate governance and client disclosure

Every provider needs policies, procedures and controls proportionate to its size (art. 12). For platforms and alternative trading systems, the board approves the risk appetite and the policies, reviewed at least once a year, and there is a risk management committee with at least one director (NCG 502, IV.C.1). The minimum policies cover conflicts of interest, suitability of the offer, anti-money-laundering, investor information and operational risk; block 3 adds an in-house internal audit function and notification of operational incidents to the CMF within 2 hours (IV.C.7.1).

The law prohibits misleading advertising (art. 28). For each project, the platform discloses the promoter, the use of funds and the legal nature of the instrument, which may be a crypto-asset (NCG 502, III.C). Platforms, alternative trading systems, brokers and custodians also report to the Financial Analysis Unit (UAF) (art. 36 of Law 21.521, which amended Law 19.913).

## Crypto-assets and tokens: the law and the CMF's position

The law does not use the words "token", "tokenization" or "stablecoin". It defines crypto-assets as a digital representation of units of value, goods or services, other than money (art. 3 no. 3), and a financial instrument as any security, contract or intangible asset structured to generate monetary income or to represent a virtual financial asset, excluding publicly offered securities (art. 3 no. 8). The CMF has set out its position in several official letters:

- **Official Letter 162957 (12 Sep 2025):** an exchange that matches crypto-asset orders is an alternative trading system.
- **Official Letter 59065 (25 Mar 2026):** the name "token" decides nothing. If it represents a debt or an investment with an enforceable economic right, it is a security, even if issued under foreign law; if not, it may be a Fintec Law financial instrument.
- **Official Letter 76656 (27 Apr 2026):** a website that lists real estate income projects and lets users trade their tokens provides at least a crowdfunding platform and an alternative trading system.
- **Official Letter 101082 (12 Jun 2026):** crypto-assets are financial instruments for the purposes of the law, and a [self-custody](/en/glosario/auto-custodia-self-custody) wallet, where the provider does not control the private keys, is not custody.

[Stablecoins](/en/glosario/stablecoin) have no regime of their own: art. 30 of the law amended Law 20.950 so that payment means include money-backed units on distributed ledgers, under standards set by the Central Bank.

## When the token is a security: Law 18.045

If the token is a security under art. 3 of Law 18.045, a public offering requires registration in the Securities Registry, unless the offer is private or exempt (CMF Official Letter 135827 of 22 July 2025). NCG 502 does not govern that issuance, but whoever provides services around the token. Offering securities to the public without the corresponding registration is a criminal offence (art. 62 a) of Law 18.045).

## Penalties and the end of the transition period

Providing the services without registration or authorisation is a serious infringement (art. 14 a)), grounds for cancellation (art. 13) and for a 10-year bar on registering again (art. 6). For persons or entities other than corporations (sociedades anónimas) and banks, the CMF may impose fines of up to 100,000 UF, 30% of the value of the transactions or twice the profit obtained (art. 37 of Decree Law 3.538). Pretending to be registered with or supervised by the CMF raises the penalty for fraud by one degree (art. 15). The deadline to apply for registration and authorisation expired on 3 February 2025: anyone who did not apply may only wind down existing transactions (second transitory article; NCG 502, XII). By then, the CMF had received 335 registration applications, including 21 requests for authorisation as a crowdfunding platform (press release of 4 February 2025).

## Fintec Law timeline

| Date | Milestone |
| --- | --- |
| 4 Jan 2023 | Publication of Law 21.521 |
| 3 Feb 2023 | General entry into force |
| 12 Jan 2024 | CMF rules NCG 502 and NCG 503 |
| 2 Dec 2024 | NCG 524 amends NCG 502 |
| 3 Feb 2025 | Application deadline (second transitory article) |
| 9 Feb 2026 | NCG 559: prior notice for already supervised entities |
| Mar-Jun 2026 | Official Letters 59065, 76656 and 101082 on tokens |
| 1 Jul 2027 | Capital add-on for risk management quality (NCG 502, XII) |

## How we work with projects in Chile

We classify the token first and, with local legal counsel, identify which of the law's services the project provides; then come the vehicle and the technology, with our [asset tokenization platform](/en/servicios/tokenizacion-activos). Custody of investors' tokens in Chile must sit with a custodian registered and authorised by the CMF, or with an entity the law itself enables (arts. 5 and 7). The rest of the region is covered in [asset tokenization in Latin America](/en/articulos/asset-tokenization-in-latin-america).

## Official sources

- [Law 21.521, Fintec Law (LeyChile)](https://www.bcn.cl/leychile/navegar?idNorma=1187323)
- [CMF rule NCG 502, updated text](https://www.cmfchile.cl/institucional/mercados/ver_archivo.php?archivo=/web/compendio/ncg/ncg_502_2024.pdf)
- [CMF official letters and rulings](https://www.cmfchile.cl/institucional/inc/dictamenes.php)
- [Securities Market Law 18.045](https://www.bcn.cl/leychile/navegar?idNorma=29472)

*Framework verified as of 2 October 2026.* A project in Chile? [Talk to us](/en/meeting).