SIO-3.1 Licensing Conditions
SIO-3.1.1
A stablecoin issuer must ensure it meets the following conditions:
Added: July 2025Condition: 1: Legal form
(a) Locally incorporated as a Bahraini Joint Stock Company (BSC).Added: July 2025Condition 2: Substantial shareholder
(a) Any persons holding 5% or more of the shareholding or in a position to control not less than 5% of the shareholder votes in the licensee are suitable and pose no undue risks to the stablecoin issuer.Added: July 2025Condition 3: Mind and Management
(a) The board of directors and the senior management must collectively provide sufficient range of skills and experience to manage the affairs of the stablecoin issuer in a sound and prudent manner. Stablecoin issuers must ensure their employees meet any training and competency requirements specified by the CBB.(b) The Board must appoint senior management whose authority must include management and operation of the activities of the licensed stablecoin issuer reporting to and under the direction of the Board. The senior managers must include a chief executive officer or equivalent, relevant business functions including compliance officer, money laundering reporting officer, head of finance, head of risk management, head of operations, head of reserve asset management, chief information security officer and internal audit. Also refer to Fit and Proper Requirements (FP) Module, in CBB Rulebook Common Volume, for requirements relating to fit and proper and prior CBB approval requirements relating to directors and relevant senior management functions.(c) Stablecoin issuers must maintain adequate segregation of responsibilities in their staffing arrangements, to protect against the misuse of systems or errors. The segregation of responsibilities must ensure avoidance of any conflict of interest and maintain a Chinese Wall such critical functions.Added: July 2025Condition 4: Adequate financial resources
(a) Maintain a level of financial resources, as agreed with the CBB, adequate for the level of business proposed. The level of financial resources held must always equal or exceed the minimum requirements contained in Chapter 4 of this Module.Added: July 2025Condition 5: Systems and Controls
(a) Maintain systems and controls that are adequate for the scale and complexity of their activities. These systems and controls, at a minimum, must meet the requirements stipulated in this Module as well as the requirements of Module HC (High Level Controls) of the CBB Rulebook Volume 6.Added: July 2025Condition 6: Auditors
(a) Appoint an external auditor, subject to CBB’s prior approval. Stablecoin issuers must comply with the minimum requirements regarding auditors contained in Section SIO-5.2 of this Module.Added: July 2025Condition 7: Books and records
(a) Maintain comprehensive books of accounts and financial records, which must be available for inspection within the Kingdom of Bahrain by the CBB, or persons appointed by the CBB, at any time. Stablecoin issuers must ensure that the books of accounts, financial record and relevant information pertaining to financial statements, as may be required by the CBB, are kept for a minimum period of 10 years.Added: July 2025Condition 8: Conduct
(a) Conduct their activities in a professional and orderly manner, in keeping with good market practice standards. Stablecoin issuers must comply with the general standards of business conduct as well as the standards relating to treatment of clients contained in this Module.Added: July 2025SIO-3.1.2
Stablecoin issuers must comply with any other specific requirements or restrictions imposed by the CBB on the scope of their license.
Added: July 2025SIO-3.1.3
Stablecoin issuers that designate their stablecoins as sharia compliant must appoint an independent sharia advisor with relevant qualifications (in fiqh al muamalat) and experience. Licensees must comply with relevant AAOIFI Shari’ah standards.
Added: July 2025
