📈 Cabinet Clears New Rules to Regulate Foreign Remittance Service Providers

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved revised regulations under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, No. 28 of 2005 to strengthen oversight on money and value transfer services, alignment with international Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) standards, and enhance formal foreign exchange inflows. • Core Changes: The newly approved _Money or Value Transfer Service Providers Regulations No. 1 of 2025_ (Gazetted Dec 23, 2025) replaces the 2024 framework. It explicitly allows foreign money or value transfer service providers to formally register in Sri Lanka. • Closing Regulatory Gaps: Previously, registration was restricted to locally incorporated companies. This excluded offshore and foreign-registered firms, many of which continued operating through local agents without official registration. • Economic Impact & Oversight: The Central Bank of Sri Lanka will formally supervise all operators. The framework aims to secure cross-border payment flows, bring informal operators into the official network, and boost worker remittances, which remain a vital pillar for national external economic stability and employment support. • Context: The proposal was tabled by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.