PVARA Added to Pakistan’s AMLA Schedule IV, Giving Crypto Regulators Direct Enforcement Powers

Pakistan’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) has been formally brought into the country’s anti-money laundering framework after the National Executive Committee on AML-CFT approved its addition to Schedule IV of the AMLA. For crypto exchanges and other virtual asset service providers, the practical meaning is simple: PVARA is no longer just a licensing body, it now has direct enforcement power on AML compliance.

1. PVARA now sits on the list of reporting entities under Schedule IV of the AMLA, which puts licensed virtual asset platforms under compliance expectations that mirror those imposed on banks. That means full AML programs, suspicious transaction reporting, and closer oversight from the Financial Monitoring Unit.
2. The Schedule IV listing also gives PVARA direct enforcement authority against crypto firms that do not meet anti-money laundering requirements. In other words, the regulator can move from supervision to action when firms miss the mark on compliance.
3. PVARA is a relatively new regulator, but it already has a fairly dense mandate. Pakistan’s parliament passed the Virtual Assets Act in March 2026, reversing the country’s 2018 ban on cryptocurrency and giving PVARA powers to license and supervise crypto exchanges across Pakistan, alongside a new market surveillance regime.
4. PVARA Chairman Bilal bin Saqib has called the Virtual Assets Act Pakistan’s first dedicated crypto law. He said the body builds on a 2025 Presidential Ordinance that first created the regulatory framework, and that PVARA has already issued No Objection Certificates to several firms.
5. The oversight structure is split between PVARA, the State Bank of Pakistan, and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan. PVARA handles licensing, while the State Bank of Pakistan works on banking rails for crypto firms. Separately, Pakistan signed an MoU in January with a World Liberty Financial-linked firm to explore a dollar-backed stablecoin for cross-border payments.

Pakistan ranks among the world’s largest cryptocurrency markets by adoption, and the source says millions of citizens already use crypto, most of it outside any formal structure until this year. For PSPs and banking partners, that is the real story here: a large user base is moving into a framework where licensing, AML controls, and banking access are now being pulled into the same regulatory conversation.