BELGIUM Trends and Developments Contributed by: Tom Van Dyck and Louise Verstraete, Liedekerke Wolters Waelbroeck Kirkpatrick
Liedekerke Wolters Waelbroeck Kirkpatrick Bd de l’Empereur 3 Keizerslaan 1000 Brussels Belgium Tel: +32 2 551 15 15
Email: mbd@liedekerke.com Web: www.liedekerke.com
Belgium’s fintech sector has continued to expand at a steady pace in 2024 and 2025. Technologi - cal innovation, coupled with the country’s sup - portive regulatory landscape, has encouraged existing financial institutions, start-ups and global tech companies to deepen their focus on Belgium as a fintech hub. Both of Belgium’s supervisory authorities – the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) and the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) – are actively shaping the fintech sector through new guidance, mar - ket consultations and supervisory actions that encourage responsible innovation. At the EU level, developments such as the long- awaited Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), the proposals for a revised payment services directive (the Third Payments Services Directive; PSD3) and payment services regula - tion (PSR) and the evolving anti-money launder - ing (AML) framework have had profound effects on how fintechs operate in Belgium. This article provides an overview of the most sali - ent fintech trends and regulatory developments in Belgium. It covers the crypto market, block - chain initiatives, MiCA’s integration into Belgian law, the changing payments ecosystem under
PSD2 (and upcoming reforms) and updates to AML/KYC requirements. The Evolving Regulatory Landscape for Fintech The FSMA and NBB as key regulators In Belgium, the FSMA and the NBB share respon - sibility for supervising financial institutions, pay - ment service providers and (in certain respects) crypto-asset service providers (CASPs). The FSMA focuses on investor protection, financial market integrity and conduct-of-business over - sight. The NBB monitors financial stability and prudential requirements. For fintech market players, the following recent regulatory initiatives are noteworthy. • Crypto advertising regulations: In May 2023, the FSMA’s new regulations on the advertis - ing of virtual currencies took effect. This initia - tive continued well into 2025, with the FSMA clarifying that crypto-related advertisements must be clear, accurate and non-misleading, and must include risk warnings. These rules set the tone for how crypto offerings and their promotions must be conducted in Belgium. • Fintech support: The FSMA and the NBB offer fintech companies (both start-ups and
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