The Guernsey Financial Services Commission made the Lending, Credit and Finance (Amendment) Rules, 2026 on 9 September 2026 under section 63 of the Lending, Credit and Finance (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2022. Clause 2 of the Rules brought them into force on 1 October 2026. This is a made instrument now in force rather than a consultation or a proposal, and the Commission announced it on 17 September 2026 as a step in its Digital Finance Initiative.
The Rules amend Part 10 of the Lending, Credit and Finance Rules, 2023, the Part dealing with Part III VASP Licences. Rule 10.1 carried the requirement for multiple licences, obliging a firm already holding a licence issued under the regulatory Laws to take a Part III VASP Licence as well before carrying on Part III VASP activities, and the Commission states that the Rules remove that requirement in every case. Rule 10.2(1) confined VASP services to institutional and wholesale counterparties, and that restriction is deleted. Rule 10.3, the environmental declaration, is deleted in full.
Guernsey investment licensees and insurance licensees that already hold a Commission licence can carry on Part III VASP activity without taking out a second licence for it. Virtual asset exchanges, custodians and transfer service providers holding a Part III VASP Licence may onboard retail customers, where the earlier rule limited them to institutional and wholesale counterparties. Part III VASP licensees no longer file the environmental declaration that Rule 10.3 required.
The Commission has said that feedback and rules on stablecoins are expected by the end of 2026, and that its work on digital custody and on technology in anti-financial crime compliance continues, so firms planning stablecoin issuance or digital custody in the Bailiwick do not yet have a settled position to build on. The Commission published a separate guidance note, Tokenisation of Investments, in July 2026, covering the tokenisation of investments and other assets.
Licentium advises digital asset businesses and regulated financial firms on licensing and regulatory perimeter questions in Guernsey and other offshore jurisdictions. Work we undertake includes assessing whether an existing Commission licence covers planned Part III VASP activity, preparing Part III VASP Licence applications, reviewing retail customer onboarding against the amended Part 10 rules, and advising on the stablecoin and digital custody positions the Commission is still developing.