Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA): register, licences and requirements
The Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) is Bermuda's single integrated financial regulator, established in 1969. Beyond banks, investment firms, funds and insurers, it licenses digital asset businesses under the Digital Asset Business Act 2018 in three classes: Test (proof-of-concept), Modified and Full. At end-2025, 49 digital asset businesses held a BMA licence, up from 36 a year earlier.
How to check a firm on the BMA register
Type the full or partial entity name, optionally narrow by sector (e.g. Digital Assets Business, Banking, Investment Business), and search. An active entry shows the company name, sector, principal and registered addresses, licence/registration type and class (e.g. Class F, Class T), registration number, effective date and permitted activities; no licence-number or LEI search field was seen.4
At a glance
| Official name | Bermuda Monetary Authority |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Bermuda |
| Type | Integrated financial regulator |
| Headquarters | Hamilton1 |
| Founded | 19692 |
| Website | bma.bm3 |
| Public register | Official public register4 |
| Licence types in the Atlas | 6 |
What BMA supervises
The BMA is Bermuda's single integrated financial regulator. It licenses and supervises banks and deposit companies, digital asset businesses, investment business firms, investment funds and fund administrators, insurers, money service businesses and corporate service providers, and it also regulates the Bermuda Stock Exchange and the Bermuda Credit Union.1
- banks and deposit companies1
- digital asset businesses (issuance, exchange, custody and payment services using virtual coins or tokens)10
- investment business firms (standard and test licences)7
- fund administrators, under Part III of the Investment Funds Act 200611
- insurers and insurance managers (out of scope for this dossier)1
Licences BMA issues
- Bank · Bermuda
Banking Licence / Deposit Company Licence / Restricted Banking Licence (Banks and Deposit Companies Act 1999)
- FM · Bermuda
Fund Administrator Licence (Part III, Investment Funds Act 2006)
- IF · Bermuda
Investment Business Licence (standard licence, under the Investment Business Act 2003)
- VASP · Bermuda
Digital Asset Business Class F (Full) Licence
- VASP · Bermuda
Digital Asset Business Class M (Modified) Licence
- VASP · Bermuda
Digital Asset Business Class T (Test) Licence
Lesser-known services for applicants
Pre-application meeting / pre-assessment
The FinTech/Digital Assets team offers a free scheduled consultation ('Contact Us During Office Hours', booked via an online calendar) before formal submission of a digital asset issuance or business application; applicants can also email innovate@bma.bm. Investment business applicants are pointed to published 'Guidance Notes for Prospective Applicants'.5
Innovation hub
BMA operates a formal Innovation Hub, but the pages found this session describe it only for insurance/InsurTech; no equivalent named 'innovation hub' for digital asset business or investment business was found, though the Digital Assets team's pre-application consultation serves a similar early-stage purpose.6
Regulatory sandbox
Two statutory sandbox-like pathways exist outside insurance: the Digital Asset Business Class T (Test) licence lets an entity test a proof-of-concept DAB model under BMA supervision before applying for Class M or F; and the Investment Business Act's test licence lets holders run investment activities inside the Authority's general regulatory sandbox to trial innovative products, technology or delivery methods.7
Application portal: SubmIT (submit.bma.bm): the Authority's online system for filing digital asset business and other regulatory applications.5
Fee schedule: BMA publishes an annual consolidated fees notice (e.g. '2026 Bermuda Monetary Authority Fees') on its Document Centre / Fees page covering application, licence-grant and annual fees for every Act it administers; the PDF is an image/compressed layout that could not be text-extracted this session, so exact Digital Asset Business, investment business or banking fee amounts could not be confirmed and are left null below.8
Compare with other regulators: pre-application meetings · sandboxes and innovation hubs.
Fees and timelines
| Licence | Statutory deadline | Observed |
|---|---|---|
| Digital Asset Business Class F (Full) Licence | n/a | No fixed statutory decision deadline found; the Assessment and Licensing Committee typically gives an initial decision roughly four weeks after a complete application is submitted, depending on completeness and complexity.9 |
Changing the owner of a licensed firm
Prior notification with an objection period. Anyone intending to become a 10% (or majority) shareholder controller of a BMA-licensed undertaking, including a digital asset business, must first give the Authority written notice; the acquisition can proceed once the BMA confirms no objection, or once a statutory review period elapses without a written objection. Bermuda's regime also recognises a majority-controller threshold as a second trigger point.12
Laws BMA applies
- Digital Asset Business Act 2018: 2018 : 28
Recent and upcoming changes
- 2026-06-26: BMA's 2025 results show digital asset business licensees rising to 49 (from 36 in 2024) and total authority revenue up 16.1% to USD 150.7 million.13
- 2026-04-09: BMA issued a consultation paper on Asset Tokenisation, signalling upcoming policy work on tokenised assets (document opened but not text-extractable this session; title and date taken from the official document filename on bma.bm).14
- 2025-09-08: BMA republished its Digital Asset Business Guidance Note for prospective applicants (dated in the document's own filename), the most recent version found this session.15
Contacts and public register
Address: BMA House, 43 Victoria Street, Hamilton, HM12, Bermuda1
Website: bma.bm3
Check whether a firm is licensed: official register4.
Frequently asked questions
What does the BMA regulate besides digital assets?
The BMA is Bermuda's integrated regulator: it licenses banks and deposit companies under the Banks and Deposit Companies Act 1999, investment business firms under the Investment Business Act 2003, fund administrators under the Investment Funds Act 2006, and insurers, alongside digital asset businesses and money service businesses. One searchable register at bma.bm/regulated-entities covers all these sectors.
What are the three Digital Asset Business licence classes?
Class T (Test) is for entities proving a concept, working like a sandbox; Class M (Modified) is for a limited-scope or time-limited expansion of activity; and Class F (Full) covers the complete range of digital asset business, including issuing or redeeming tokens, running an exchange, custody, payment services and vendor services, under the Digital Asset Business Act 2018.
How many digital asset businesses does BMA currently license?
BMA reported 49 licensed digital asset businesses at the end of 2025, up 36% from 36 a year earlier, according to its 2025 results reported in June 2026. BMA does not appear to publish a further breakdown by Class T/M/F on the pages checked this session; the searchable register shows each entity's class individually.
Is there a sandbox for testing a crypto business idea in Bermuda?
Yes. The Digital Asset Business Class T licence exists specifically so a company can test a proof-of-concept under BMA supervision before moving to a Modified or Full licence. Separately, the Investment Business Act's test licence lets firms trial investment activities inside BMA's general regulatory sandbox.
How do I check if a company is licensed by BMA?
Search the free public register at bma.bm/regulated-entities by company name, optionally filtered by sector (e.g. Digital Assets Business, Banking, Investment Business). An active listing shows the licence class, registration number, effective date, addresses and permitted activities.
What happens if someone wants to buy a large stake in a BMA-licensed digital asset business?
Anyone becoming a 10% or majority shareholder controller of a BMA-licensed undertaking must first give the Authority written notice. The change can proceed once BMA confirms no objection, or once its statutory review period passes without one: a prior-notification, objection-period model rather than a simple after-the-fact filing.
Sources
- bma.bm: about us · retrieved 2026-09-24
- en.wikipedia.org: Bermuda Monetary Authority · secondary · retrieved 2026-09-24
- bma.bm · retrieved 2026-09-24
- bma.bm: regulated entities · retrieved 2026-09-24
- bma.bm: digital asset issuance · retrieved 2026-09-24
- bma.bm: innovative insurance sandbox · retrieved 2026-09-24
- bma.bm: investment business licensing · retrieved 2026-09-24
- bma.bm: fees · retrieved 2026-09-24
- salvusfunds.com: establishing a digital asset business in bermuda in 2026 · secondary · retrieved 2026-09-24
- bma.bm: digital assets supervision regulation · retrieved 2026-09-24
- bma.bm: fund administration licensing · retrieved 2026-09-24
- charltonsquantum.com: bermuda digital assets regulation · secondary · retrieved 2026-09-24
- royalgazette.com: bma report digital assets expand revenue up · secondary · retrieved 2026-09-24
- bma.bm: 2026 04 09 07 13 38 Consultation Paper Asset Tokenisation (PDF) · retrieved 2026-09-24
- bma.bm: 2025 09 08 11 57 23 Guidance Note Digital Asset Business Gui (PDF) · retrieved 2026-09-24
Applying to BMA, or buying a firm it licenses?
Tell us your business model and target markets. We check the fit before you spend on an application, then handle the licence end to end.
A free preliminary assessment: we check your business model against the licence before you spend on an application. We handle this licence and any other fintech licence, including jurisdictions the Atlas does not cover yet.