Stablecoin issuer / redeemer in Namibia

Stablecoins have no legal tender status in Namibia: the Bank of Namibia's Revised Position on Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers of August 2022 states that virtual assets remain without legal tender status and that the Bank does not recognise their use and acceptance as legal tender or as electronic money, and the Bank's Virtual Assets Act infographic states that virtual currencies do not enjoy legal tender status on par with the Namibia Dollar.

The Bank of Namibia has issued no statement that stablecoins may qualify as electronic money, and its Revised Position of August 2022 states the opposite, that the Bank does not recognise virtual assets as electronic money in Namibia. Determination PSD-3 confines electronic money to monetary value issued on receipt of legal tender, denominated in Namibia Dollar and redeemable on demand for cash in Namibia Dollar, and it was made under section 45 of the Payment System Management Act, 2023 (Act No. 14 of 2023) rather than the 2003 Act.

The Financial Institutions and Markets Act, 2021 (Act No. 2 of 2021), gazetted as Government Notice 207 in Government Gazette 7645 of 1 October 2021 and administered by NAMFISA, carries no virtual-asset, crypto, stablecoin or electronic-money provision, and section 1 of the Virtual Assets Act, 2023 excludes securities and other financial assets regulated under Namibian securities or financial assets law from the definition of a virtual asset.

Namibia's dedicated virtual-asset framework is already in force: the Virtual Assets Act, 2023 (Act No. 10 of 2023) was assented on 14 July 2023, published as Government Notice 215 in Government Gazette 8143 of 21 July 2023 and commenced on 25 July 2023, and the Bank of Namibia made seven rules under it gazetted on 1 September 2023 as Government Notices 512 to 518 in Government Gazettes 8196 to 8202. Schedule 1 to the Act sets six licence classes and creates no separate stablecoin or issuer category.

Bank of Namibia (BoN) Statement on Virtual Assets (VAs) and Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs): While a direct permanent URL to the official press release might change, the essence is widely reported and forms the basis of their current policy. Look for news archives or publications section on the BoN website around Feb/March 2023. A typical search query would be "Bank of Namibia virtual assets statement 2023".

Namibia's payment system and electronic money regime rests on the Payment System Management Act, 2023 (Act No. 14 of 2023); the Bank of Namibia issued Determination PSD-3 on the Issuing of Electronic Money in Namibia under section 45 of that Act on 15 September 2024, effective 27 March 2025, and PSD-3 defines electronic money as monetary value stored electronically, issued on receipt of an equivalent amount of legal tender, accepted by persons other than the issuer and redeemable on demand for cash in Namibia Dollar.

The Financial Institutions and Markets Act, 2021 is Act No. 2 of 2021, published as Government Notice 207 in Government Gazette 7645 of 1 October 2021, administered by NAMFISA, and it consolidates and harmonises the laws regulating financial institutions, financial intermediaries and financial markets in Namibia while carrying no virtual-asset, crypto, stablecoin or electronic-money provision.

Namibia imposes no stablecoin reserve-backing duty: the Virtual Assets Act, 2023 (Act No. 10 of 2023) and the seven Bank of Namibia rules of 1 September 2023 published as Government Notices 512 to 518 use the word stablecoin nowhere and contain no reserve, backing or redemption provision, and Government Notice 513 sets only class-based minimum capital of N$1 000 000 for a Virtual Asset Broker-Dealer, N$2 000 000 for a Virtual Asset Custodian and N$2 700 000 for a Virtual Asset Market Place.

If Classified as E-money: If a stablecoin is classified as e-money, it would likely be subject to the reserve and safeguarding requirements applicable to licensed e-money issuers under the Payment System Management Act, 2003. These typically involve holding equivalent fiat currency reserves in segregated accounts to ensure 1:1 backing and liquidity.

The Bank of Namibia's virtual-asset rulebook was completed in 2023 rather than pending: seven rules made under the Virtual Assets Act, 2023 were gazetted on 1 September 2023 in Government Gazettes 8196 to 8202 as Government Notices 512 to 518, covering advertising, capital and other financial requirements, risk management, custody of client assets, cyber security, statutory returns and client disclosure, and none of them imposes a reserve requirement on any stablecoin issuer.

Evidence fact na.stablecoin.no-specific-stablecoin-issuer-license not found (may have been renamed).

Issuing electronic money in Namibia requires a person to be licensed or authorised as a payment service provider by the Bank of Namibia under paragraph 8.1 of Determination PSD-3, made under section 45 of the Payment System Management Act, 2023 (Act No. 14 of 2023) and effective 27 March 2025; stablecoins fall outside that determination because the Bank does not recognise virtual assets as electronic money.

The Financial Institutions and Markets Act, 2021 (Act No. 2 of 2021) carries no virtual-asset, crypto or stablecoin provision, so Namibian securities law creates no stablecoin licence; a stablecoin that is not a security regulated under Namibian securities or financial assets law falls within the section 1 virtual-asset definition of the Virtual Assets Act, 2023 and is licensed by the Bank of Namibia in one of the six Schedule 1 classes.

Virtual asset service provider licensing in Namibia has been in force since the Virtual Assets Act, 2023 commenced on 25 July 2023, with six licence classes in Schedule 1 and capital floors set by Government Notice 513 of 1 September 2023; the Bank of Namibia granted provisional six-month authorisations to Mindex Virtual Asset Exchange (Pty) Ltd and Landifa Bitcoin Trade CC on 13 January 2025, during which those entities were not allowed to conduct any business or engage with persons in Namibia.

Evidence fact na.stablecoin.no-specific-stablecoin-redemption-rights not found (may have been renamed).

Electronic money in Namibia must be denominated in Namibia Dollar and redeemed at par value under paragraph 9.1.1 of Bank of Namibia Determination PSD-3, issued on 15 September 2024 under section 45 of the Payment System Management Act, 2023 and effective 27 March 2025, and the definition of electronic money itself requires redeemability on demand for cash in Namibia Dollar; that redemption right attaches to Namibia Dollar e-money and reaches no stablecoin.

The Financial Institutions and Markets Act, 2021 (Act No. 2 of 2021) carries no virtual-asset, crypto or stablecoin provision, so Namibian securities law creates no stablecoin licence; a stablecoin that is not a security regulated under Namibian securities or financial assets law falls within the section 1 virtual-asset definition of the Virtual Assets Act, 2023 and is licensed by the Bank of Namibia in one of the six Schedule 1 classes.

CBDC Exploration: The Bank of Namibia has publicly announced its exploration of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). This initiative is part of a broader global trend and is seen as a way to potentially enhance financial inclusion, efficiency, and resilience of the payment system.

Namibia's AML/CFT framework rests on the Financial Intelligence Act 13 of 2012, which establishes the Financial Intelligence Centre and imposes registration, customer due diligence, record-keeping and reporting duties on accountable and reporting institutions; its amending instruments are the Prevention and Combating of Terrorist and Proliferation Activities Act 4 of 2014, Government Notice 339 of 2019 amending Schedule 1, the Abolition of Payment by Cheque Act 16 of 2022 and the Financial Intelligence Amendment Act 6 of 2023, effective 21 July 2023. No Financial Intelligence Amendment Act of 2017 exists, Act 2 of 2017 being the Access to Biological and Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge Act.

Namibia's Financial Intelligence Regulations were made under section 73(2) of the Financial Intelligence Act 13 of 2012 and published as Government Notice 3 of 2015 in Government Gazette 5658, in operation from 28 January 2015, and were amended by Government Notice 48 of 2021 and Government Notice 271 of 2023; no Financial Intelligence Regulations of 2017 were made. The Regulations prescribe the identification particulars for natural persons in regulation 6 and for companies and trusts in regulations 7 and 10, enhanced due diligence in regulation 15(3), a five-year record retention period in regulation 18(5), cash-reporting thresholds of N$99 999.99 and N$24 999.99 in regulation 23 and the originator and beneficiary particulars for reportable transfers in regulation 32.

Evidence fact na.aml.identification-and-verification-of-customers not found (may have been renamed).

Natural Persons: Obtain full name, date of birth, residential address, nationality, identification number (e.g., national ID, passport). Verify identity using reliable, independent source documents, data, or information (e.g., government-issued ID, utility bills).

Legal Persons/Arrangements (Companies, Trusts): Obtain name, legal form, proof of existence, powers that regulate and bind the legal person/arrangement, and the names of relevant persons holding senior management positions.

Beneficial Ownership: Identify and verify the identity of the beneficial owner(s) of the customer, ensuring that VASPs understand the ownership and control structure of the customer. This involves identifying the natural person(s) who ultimately own or control the customer, and/or on whose behalf a transaction is being conducted.

Purpose and Nature of Business Relationship: Understand the purpose and intended nature of the business relationship or occasional transaction.

Ongoing Monitoring: Conduct ongoing due diligence on the business relationship and scrutiny of transactions undertaken throughout the course of that relationship to ensure that the transactions are consistent with the VASP's knowledge of the customer, their business, and risk profile, including, where necessary, the source of funds.

Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD): Apply EDD in higher-risk situations, which typically include:

Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).

Customers from high-risk geographic areas (as identified by FATF or FIC).

Complex, unusually large transactions, or unusual patterns of transactions that have no apparent economic or lawful purpose.

Relationships with shell companies.

Transactions involving new technologies or products that favor anonymity.

Namibia already applies a virtual-asset travel rule: section 8.4 of Financial Intelligence Centre Guidance Note 11 of 2023, issued 30 June 2023 and effective 3 July 2023, requires a virtual asset service provider to obtain and transmit the originator's name, account number or unique transaction reference and address, identity number, customer identification number or date and place of birth, together with the beneficiary's name and account number or unique transaction reference, immediately and simultaneously with the transfer, for all virtual asset transfers regardless of amount, the EUR 1 000 de minimis having been dropped. A VASP transferring to an unhosted wallet must obtain the equivalent information from its own customer.

Namibia sets no monetary threshold for suspicious transaction reporting: section 33 of the Financial Intelligence Act 13 of 2012 requires an accountable or reporting institution that knows, ought reasonably to have known or suspects that it has received or is about to receive the proceeds of unlawful activities, or has been or is about to be used for money laundering, to report to the Financial Intelligence Centre irrespective of the size of the transaction, and the duty bites on transactions that are about to be concluded as well as completed ones. The threshold-based duties are the separate cash transaction reports under section 32, prescribed at N$99 999.99 by regulation 23(1) with a lower N$24 999.99 figure for banking institutions in regulation 23(2), and the electronic transfer reports under section 34.

Content of Report: The report must include all relevant information known to the VASP regarding the customer, the transaction, and the reasons for suspicion.

Namibia prohibits tipping-off: under section 33(3) of the Financial Intelligence Act 13 of 2012 an accountable or reporting institution or business that has made or is to make a suspicious transaction report may not disclose that fact, or any information about the contents of the report, to any other person save in the exercise of powers under the Act, for the administration of the Act or under an order of court, and section 46 of the Act creates the tipping-off offence.

Customer Identification Records: Copies of all documents used for customer identification and verification (e.g., ID cards, passports, utility bills, company registration documents).

Transaction Records: Details of all transactions conducted by the VASP, including amounts, types of virtual assets, dates, sender and recipient information, and any associated messages. This includes both successful and attempted transactions.

Business Relationship Records: Records pertaining to the establishment and duration of business relationships.

Analysis and Decision Records: Records of any internal analysis undertaken regarding suspicious activity, and decisions made regarding whether or not to file an STR.

STRs Submitted: Copies of all suspicious transaction reports filed with the FIC.

Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) Namibia