This Week's Global Regulatory Movements - W51-2025

What Changed: Kenya's Supreme Court ruled on December 5 that interchange fees for card networks and access to payment systems constitute operational business expenses, not royalties, removing withholding tax liability while preserving corporate tax treatment. Visa launched its inaugural African Innovation Studio in Nairobi; Mastercard projects Kenya's digital payments market reaching $14.54B by 2028 (14.1% CAGR).

Why It Matters for Infrastructure: This legal recalibration reduces operational friction for digital payment service providers and aligns domestic practice with international norms. Combined with PAPSS integration and PayNow-UPI linkage with Singapore, Kenya's payment infrastructureInfrastructure and networks that enable money transfer between parties is hardening into a regional corridor asset.

What Changed: The Investment and Securities Act 2025 formally legalised virtual assetFATF term for digital value representation tradable or transferable electronically trading and established the SECU.S. federal agency regulating securities markets and protecting investors as licensing authority. Only two provisional VASPEntity providing services related to virtual assets, subject to AML regulations licenses granted as of September 2024; SEC is implementing mandatory Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Program (ARIP). Minimum capital requirement: N500M (~$320K USD); registration fee: N30M (~$19K USD). Nigeria is on track to implement VASP taxation in 2026 without meaningful licensing progress.

Why It Matters for Infrastructure: Structural risk: regulatory taxation without operator licensing creates institutional ambiguity and chills market entry. The regulatory bottleneck preserves competitive advantages for grandfathered incumbents and creates compliance uncertainty for new entrants targeting Africa's largest digital asset market.

What Changed: Banco de la Republica launched Bre-B (Billetera de Bajo Valor / Low-Value WalletA tool for storing, sending, and receiving cryptocurrencies Rail) on October 6, 2025, enabling real-time interoperable settlement between bank accounts and mobile wallet providers.

Why It Matters for Infrastructure: Bre-B addresses critical last-mile friction in Colombia's payment ecosystem. For cross-border corridors—particularly remittance and SME trade flows to Central America—this infrastructure modernisation compresses settlement times and reduces intermediation requirements.

What Changed: Argentine Securities Commission (CNV) issued General Resolution 1058/2025 requiring VASPEntity providing services related to virtual assets, subject to AML regulations registration by December 31, 2025. Exemptions for operations <35,000 UVA/month (~$44K USD). Foreign VASPs must register as branch or establish local subsidiary.

Why It Matters for Infrastructure: Argentina's formalisation aligns the region with FATFGlobal standard-setter for combating money laundering and terrorist financing standards and signals transition from prohibition to regulated oversight. The December 31 deadline creates compliance urgency for Latin America's second-largest market by user baseCoinbase's Ethereum Layer 2 network using Optimism's OP Stack, designed for low-cost, high-speed transactions with Coinbase ecosystem integration.

What Changed: RBI established Payments Regulatory Board (PRB) with oversight of all payment systems. June 2025 Payment Systems Report shows 99.8% digital payment share (12,549 crore transactionsA transfer of value or data recorded on a blockchain, verified by network participants, and permanently added to the distributed ledger H1 2025); UPI dominates volume (85%). RTGSA funds transfer system where money or securities are settled individually and immediately across central bank accounts available 24x7x365 with ISO 20022 compliance. UPI-PayNow linkage with Singapore operational; participation in Project Nexus advancing.

Why It Matters for Infrastructure: PRB centralisation signals RBI's commitment to harmonised payment architecture and cross-border interoperabilityThe ability of different blockchain networks to communicate and work together seamlessly. RTGSA funds transfer system where money or securities are settled individually and immediately across central bank accounts 24x7 availability and ISO 20022 compliance position India for wholesale CBDCDigital currency issued by central banks for institutional settlements between financial institutions integration (e-Rupee). Global interoperability demonstrates India's positioning as emerging-markets payments hub.

What Changed: DFSA Consultation Paper 168 (October 2025) proposes amended crypto tokenA digital asset built on an existing blockchain, often representing utility or value regime shifting from centralised 'Recognised Crypto Tokens' list to firm-level suitability assessments. USDCA fully-reserved stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the US Dollar, issued by Circle and backed by regulated financial institutions and EURC approved as recognised tokens; Ripple granted in-principal license; RLUSD stablecoinA cryptocurrency pegged to a stable asset, such as USD or gold recognised.

Why It Matters for Infrastructure: This structural shift increases operational flexibility for firms while embedding suitability risk into individual licensing. Approval of USD/EUR stablecoins and Ripple's payments infrastructure signals DIFC's confidence in institutional-grade stablecoinA cryptocurrency pegged to a stable asset, such as USD or gold and cross-border rails.