Countries › Paraguay › Guide › 10. Capital markets and finance › Capital markets, banking and credit in Paraguay: the Central Bank as single supervisor, bank licences and capital, the new securities law, interest rate ceilings and tax on interest paid abroad

Capital markets, banking and credit in Paraguay: the Central Bank as single supervisor, bank licences and capital, the new securities law, interest rate ceilings and tax on interest paid abroad

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Last verified: 2026-10-28 · Status: Changing

The Banco Central del Paraguay (BCP) supervises both sides of Paraguayan finance: banks and finance companies through its Superintendencia de Bancos under Ley 861/96, and the securities market through its Superintendencia de Valores under the new Ley 7572/2025 on the securities and products market, in force since 8 November 2025. Taking deposits or lending as an intermediary needs a BCP licence and statutory minimum capital of PYG 50,000 million for banks and PYG 25,000 million for finance companies (2016 base amounts indexed yearly to CPI), and foreign issuers may now offer securities locally without incorporating in Paraguay. Borrowers meet a legal usury ceiling of 30 percent above the BCP's average consumer loan rate, a credit card cap of three times the average deposit rate, and 15 percent non resident income tax on deemed net interest, an effective 4.5 percent for unrelated foreign lenders.

USD figures use PYG 5,847.90 per US dollar, the Banco Central del Paraguay reference quotation for 27 October 2026 (latest published planilla on the verification date). Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Banking supervisor	Banco Central del Paraguay through the Superintendencia de Bancos Ley 861/96 art. 4 and 5, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Securities supervisor	Banco Central del Paraguay through the Superintendencia de Valores Ley 7572/2025 art. 3, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Bank minimum paid in capital (2016 statutory base, indexed yearly to CPI)	50000000000 PYGLey 861/96 art. 11 as amended by Ley 5787/2016, as of 2016-12-19 · in force
Finance company (financiera) minimum paid in capital (2016 statutory base, indexed yearly to CPI)	25000000000 PYGLey 861/96 art. 11 as amended by Ley 5787/2016, as of 2016-12-19 · in force
BCP deadline to decide a bank licence after a complete file (silence means denial)	3 monthsLey 861/96 art. 14 as amended by Ley 5787/2016, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Holding that triggers reporting of every trade in a listed company	10 %Ley 7572/2025 art. 65, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Wait after the published notice before a control acquisition by public offer can close	5 business daysLey 7572/2025 art. 66, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Foreign issuers may offer securities locally without incorporating	Yes, with BCP authorization and registration Ley 7572/2025 art. 74 and 76, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Usury ceiling	Effective rate more than 30% above the BCP average effective consumer loan rate of banks and finance companies, by term and currency Ley 489/95 art. 44 as reworded by Ley 2339/2003, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Maximum punitive interest	30 % of the moratory rateLey 489/95 art. 44 as reworded by Ley 2339/2003, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Credit card interest cap	3 times the average market deposit rate Ley 5476/2015 art. 9, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Effective INR withholding on interest to unrelated foreign lenders	4.5 %Ley 6380/2019 art. 75 num. 1 a) and 76, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Effective INR withholding on interest to the foreign parent or related parties	15 %Ley 6380/2019 art. 75 num. 6 and 76, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
INR on interest and gains from securities traded on regulated stock exchanges	Exempt Ley 6380/2019 art. 79 num. 4, as of 2026-10-28 · in force

The rule

1. Who regulates. Only the BCP, after an opinion of the Superintendencia de Bancos, may authorize the organization and operation of entities that carry out financial intermediation, issue the regulations they must follow and add new operations to the system. The law covers any entity, national or foreign, public or private, whose activity consists of or includes habitually taking funds from the public (loans, deposits, temporary transfers of financial assets or any contract with an obligation to repay) to lend or invest them. No national or foreign entity may carry out the activities of banks, finance companies or other credit entities in Paraguay without prior and express BCP authorization, and advertising to raise funds from the public by unauthorized entities is prohibited. Persons who lend only their own funds without intermediation are outside the law unless the BCP includes them because of their volume or their impact on monetary, credit or exchange policy, and cooperatives and entities governed by special laws are excluded. On the securities side, the BCP is the authority under Ley 7572/2025 and supervises and controls the securities and products market through the Superintendencia de Valores; entities supervised by other authorities are also subject to the BCP and the Superintendencia de Valores for their participation in that market.
Cost to do it: No fee is set in these articles; the cost is the licensing process and minimum capital described in the next rule.
Example: A foreign lender that wants to take deposits from Paraguayan savers needs a BCP licence; a foreign fund lending its own money to a Paraguayan company on a cross border basis does not intermediate and is outside Ley 861/96 unless the BCP decides to include it. / A US$5 million cross border loan from a foreign parent to its Paraguayan subsidiary needs no BCP banking licence; the tax on its interest is covered below.Ley Nº 861/96 General de Bancos, Financieras y otras Entidades de Crédito, art. 3 as reworded by Ley Nº 5787/2016; Ley Nº 7572/2025 Mercado de Valores y Productos, Ley 861/96 art. 1, 3, 4 and 5; Ley 7572/2025 art. 3, 1996-06-24 official text · verified 2026-10-28

2. Bank and finance company licences and minimum capital. The paid in cash capital every financial entity must keep at all times is PYG 50,000,000,000 for banks and PYG 25,000,000,000 for finance companies (financieras); a branch of a foreign bank or financial entity must be assigned the same capital as a locally incorporated bank or finance company. These are constant value amounts updated each year at year end by the BCP's consumer price index, and the BCP Board may raise them by reasoned resolution with a reasonable adjustment period. The Board decides applications after a technical opinion of the Superintendencia de Bancos within three months of the file being complete; silence means denial, a licence needs the votes of four Board members, a file not completed within six months of a request is denied and cannot be refiled for twelve months, and a licence lapses if operations do not start within one year. The BCP refuses applications when it is not fully satisfied with the project or the profile of directors and managers, or when the ownership structure prevents effective supervision. A single promoter is enough. Banks must have a board of a president and at least four directors, most with financial system experience.
Cost to do it: Statutory base minimum capital PYG 50,000,000,000 (US$8.55 million) for a bank and PYG 25,000,000,000 (US$4.28 million) for a finance company, before the yearly CPI update, which the BCP publishes and which is not reproduced here.
Example: A foreign bank opening a Paraguayan branch must assign it at least the same indexed capital as a local bank, starting from the PYG 50,000,000,000 base of 2016. / At the 27 October 2026 reference rate the 2016 base amounts are about US$8.55 million for a bank and US$4.28 million for a finance company; the indexed amounts in force are higher.Ley Nº 861/96 General de Bancos, Financieras y otras Entidades de Crédito, as amended by Ley Nº 5787/2016 De modernización y fortalecimiento de las normas que regulan el funcionamiento del sistema financiero paraguayo, Art. 11, 12, 14 and 35 (texts as reworded by Ley 5787/2016 art. 1), 2016-12-19 official text · verified 2026-10-28 · changed: Ley 5787/2016, promulgated on 19 December 2016 and published on 26 December 2016, reworded Ley 861/96 art. 11 (minimum capital set at the amounts above and indexed to CPI), art. 12, 14, 21, 26, 35, 36 and 86, among others.

3. Changes of control in banks and bank secrecy. The Superintendencia de Bancos keeps copies of the shareholder registers of financial entities. Any share transfer that, alone or together with earlier ones, gives a holding equal to or above the percentage set by BCP general resolution is perfected only once the BCP authorizes it, and the BCP may ask for information on any shareholder up to the last link of the ownership chain to identify the ultimate beneficial owner. Any reduction of capital or of the legal reserve needs express BCP authorization and is refused if capital would fall below the minimum. Financial entities, their directors and staff may not disclose information on client operations without the client's written authorization; secrecy does not apply to requests from the BCP and its supervisors, a court in a case where the client is a party, the Comptroller General, the heads of the tax and customs administrations within an ongoing verification of a specific taxpayer, and the prosecution service, among others.
Cost to do it: No fee in the law; buyers should build the BCP approval period, set by regulation, into the deal timetable.
Example: A foreign group buying a Paraguayan finance company cannot close the share transfer above the BCP threshold until the BCP approves it, and must show the chain of ownership up to the individuals at the top. / A US$20 million acquisition of a controlling stake in a local bank is legally perfected only on BCP authorization, not on signing.Ley Nº 861/96 General de Bancos, Financieras y otras Entidades de Crédito, as amended by Ley Nº 5787/2016, Art. 21, 26 and 86 (as reworded by Ley 5787/2016) and art. 84 and 85, 2016-12-19 official text · verified 2026-10-28

4. Securities: registry, public offerings and foreign issuers. Ley 7572/2025 regulates the issue, public offering, trading, intermediation, management and advice on securities and investment products, including exchanges, central securities depositories, brokers (casas de bolsa), fund managers, securitizers, rating agencies, investment advisers and issuers; it does not apply to securities issued by the Executive through the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Agencia Financiera de Desarrollo or the BCP. Securities include shares, bonds, promissory notes, savings certificates, fund units, collective investment agreements and rights issued or recorded on distributed ledger technology. Supervised entities may operate only from their entry in the Registro Público del Mercado de Valores y Productos, and a public offering of securities may be made only when both the securities and the issuer are registered; the regulation may exempt certain offerings. The BCP may authorize foreign legal entities registered on markets regulated by recognised foreign authorities to issue locally by public offering without incorporating in Paraguay, foreign listed securities may be cross listed by registering them, and local issues by local or foreign issuers may be governed by foreign law and jurisdiction if the prospectus says so. Supervision of issuers is limited to issue, offering, registration and disclosure, not their business. The BCP Board may charge fees for the registry and Superintendencia services and set reductions and exemptions. The law entered into force the day after publication and repealed Ley 7162/2023 (Superintendencia de Valores), Ley 5810/2017 (securities market), Ley 5452/2015 (investment funds), Ley 1163/1997 and Ley 5067/2013 (commodity exchanges), Ley 3899/2009 (rating agencies) and Ley 1036/1997 (securitization companies); existing regulations stay in force where consistent with it.
Cost to do it: Registry and supervision fees are those set by BCP Board resolution under art. 14 (amounts not reproduced here); a debt issue also needs a risk rating, an external audit and a bondholders' representative, each a market priced professional cost.
Example: A Paraguayan S.A. that wants to raise PYG 2,923,950,000 from the public through bonds must first register itself and the issue in the Registro Público del Mercado de Valores y Productos before any offer is made. / A US$500,000 bond issue sold to the public through a casa de bolsa needs prior registration; a foreign issuer listed on a recognised foreign market may seek BCP authorization to offer it locally without setting up a Paraguayan company.Ley Nº 7572/2025 Mercado de Valores y Productos, Art. 2, 3, 14, 20, 73, 74, 75, 76, 328 and 329, 2025-11-07 official text · verified 2026-10-28 · changed: Ley 7572/2025, sanctioned on 14 October 2025 and promulgated and published on 7 November 2025, replaced Ley 5810/2017 and six other securities laws with a single securities and products market law, kept the BCP as authority through the Superintendencia de Valores and added local offerings by foreign issuers without incorporation, cross listing, foreign governing law and distributed ledger securities. Implementing BCP regulations are still being issued under art. 327.

5. Stake reporting and acquiring control. Anyone holding, directly or through others, 10 percent or more of the capital of a publicly held issuing company (sociedad emisora de capital abierto), or reaching that level by an acquisition, must report every purchase or sale of its shares to the Superintendencia de Valores and to the exchanges where it is listed within five days of the transaction. Anyone seeking to obtain control of a supervised entity through a public offer must first announce the purpose to the public with at least the price and terms, notify the Superintendencia de Valores and the exchanges in writing and publish a prominent notice in at least one national newspaper; the acquisition may be completed five business days after the notice. Failing to follow the procedure does not void the transaction but gives shareholders and affected third parties a right to damages. Use of inside information is prohibited and serious breaches are also criminal offences under art. 321.
Cost to do it: Newspaper notice and filing costs only; no regulator fee is set in these articles.
Example: A fund that buys a 12 percent stake in a listed Paraguayan company must report that purchase and each later trade within five days. / A buyer planning a US$10 million public offer for control announces price and terms, notifies the regulator and exchange, publishes the notice and may close no earlier than five business days later.Ley Nº 7572/2025 Mercado de Valores y Productos, Art. 58, 65 and 66, 2025-11-07 official text · verified 2026-10-28

6. Securities sanctions. Legal persons committing serious breaches face limits on operations for up to five years, a fine of 20 to 50 percent of the amount of the transaction involved, a fine of 101 to 5,000 monthly minimum wages for miscellaneous unspecified activities in the capital, suspension or disqualification for up to two years, or revocation of the licence; minor breaches lead to a written warning or a fine of up to 100 minimum wages. Individuals face, for serious breaches, a warning, a fine of 50 to 500 minimum wages, removal and disqualification from management, audit, rating or bondholder representative roles for three to ten years, or revocation of their authorization; for minor breaches, a verbal warning or a fine of up to 50 minimum wages. The minimum wage for miscellaneous unspecified activities is PYG 3,044,000 per month from 1 July 2026 under Decreto 6225 of 17 June 2026.
Cost to do it: Company fines for serious breaches from PYG 307,444,000 (US$52,573) to PYG 15,220,000,000 (US$2.60 million), or 20 to 50 percent of the transaction; individual fines from PYG 152,200,000 (US$26,026) to PYG 1,522,000,000 (US$260,264) at the July 2026 minimum wage.
Example: A minor breach by a casa de bolsa can cost up to 100 minimum wages, PYG 304,400,000. / The same minor breach can cost up to about US$52,053; a serious breach on a US$1 million transaction can draw a fine of US$200,000 to US$500,000.Ley Nº 7572/2025 Mercado de Valores y Productos; Resolución MTESS Nº 670/2026 regulating Decreto Nº 6225/2026, Ley 7572/2025 art. 316 and 317; Decreto 6225/2026 art. 2 as cited in Res. MTESS 670/2026, 2025-11-07 official text · verified 2026-10-28

7. Interest rates and usury ceiling. Compensatory interest on lending and deposit operations, in guaraníes or foreign currency, is freely agreed by supply and demand within the limits of the article. From default, compensatory interest becomes moratory interest at a rate no higher than the rate originally agreed, calculated on the overdue balance, and interest may never be capitalized on moratory or punitive interest. Creditors may also charge punitive interest at a rate no higher than 30 percent of the moratory rate, also only on the overdue balance. Compensatory and punitive rates whose effective rate exceeds by 30 percent the average effective annual rate charged by banks and finance companies on consumer loans, by term and currency, are usurious; the BCP defines the consumer loans, terms and currencies used and publishes the rates monthly. For credit cards, interest may not exceed three times the average deposit (passive) rates in the market, the user may withdraw within seven days of signing, interest on interest and fixed late payment charges are void, penalty and other charges must be approved in advance by the BCP and an issuer that charges unapproved amounts must refund five times the excess plus interest.
Cost to do it: No fee; the cost is the cap on pricing. The current monthly ceilings are published by the BCP and are not reproduced here because the BCP page could not be read from an official copy on the verification date.
Example: For illustration only: if the BCP's average effective consumer rate for a given term in guaraníes were 20 percent, any compensatory rate above 26 percent would be usurious; a loan in default at an agreed 18 percent could carry punitive interest of no more than 5.4 percent (30 percent of 18). / For illustration only: on a US$10,000 overdue balance at an agreed 10 percent, moratory interest is capped at 10 percent (US$1,000 a year) and punitive interest at 3 percent (US$300 a year).Ley Nº 489/95 Orgánica del Banco Central del Paraguay, art. 44 as reworded by Ley Nº 2339/2003; Ley Nº 5476/2015 De transparencia y defensa al usuario en la utilización de tarjetas de crédito y débito, Ley 489/95 art. 44 (text of Ley 2339/2003 art. 1); Ley 5476/2015 art. 6, 8 and 9, 2003-12-26 official text · verified 2026-10-28

8. Tax on interest paid to foreign lenders. Interest is Paraguayan source income of the non resident lender and pays non resident income tax (INR) at 15 percent on a deemed net income fixed without proof to the contrary: 30 percent of gross interest and commissions on loans from foreign public or private lenders and multilateral bodies that are not related parties (including bonds placed abroad on recognised markets), and 100 percent of amounts paid to shareholders, the head office or related entities. The tax arises when the funds are made available, remitted or paid, whichever comes first; the payer withholds and is jointly liable. Exempt from INR are interest on public debt issued by the State and municipalities, and interest, returns and gains from trading securities through stock exchanges, including debt issued by authorized issuers (the text still refers to exchanges regulated by the former Comisión Nacional de Valores).
Cost to do it: Effective withholding of 4.5 percent of gross interest to an unrelated foreign lender and 15 percent to the parent or related lenders.
Example: Annual interest of PYG 584,790,000: INR of PYG 26,315,550 if paid to an unrelated foreign bank, PYG 87,718,500 if paid to the foreign parent. / US$100,000 of interest: US$4,500 withheld for an unrelated foreign bank, US$15,000 for the parent.Ley Nº 6380/2019 De modernización y simplificación del sistema tributario nacional, Art. 74, 75 num. 1 a) and 6, 76, 77 and 79 num. 1 and 4, 2019-09-25 official text · verified 2026-10-28

Topic	Rule	Figure	Norm
Bank licence	Prior BCP authorization; decision within 3 months of a complete file, silence means denial	4 of the Board's votes needed	Ley 861/96 art. 5 and 14
Bank minimum capital	Paid in cash, indexed yearly to CPI	PYG 50,000 million base (US$8.55 million)	Ley 861/96 art. 11
Finance company minimum capital	Paid in cash, indexed yearly to CPI	PYG 25,000 million base (US$4.28 million)	Ley 861/96 art. 11
Foreign bank branch	Same capital as a local bank or finance company	Same as above	Ley 861/96 art. 11
Public offering	Issuer and securities registered in the Registro Público del Mercado de Valores y Productos	Prior registration	Ley 7572/2025 art. 20
Foreign issuers	Local offering without incorporation; cross listing; foreign law allowed	BCP authorization	Ley 7572/2025 art. 74 to 76
Stake reporting	Holders of 10% or more report every trade	Within 5 days	Ley 7572/2025 art. 65
Control by public offer	Announce, notify, publish, then close	5 business days after notice	Ley 7572/2025 art. 66
Usury ceiling	30% above BCP average consumer rate	Published monthly by the BCP	Ley 489/95 art. 44
Credit cards	Cap of 3 times average deposit rate	Charges approved by the BCP	Ley 5476/2015 art. 8 and 9
Interest to unrelated foreign lender	INR 15% on 30% deemed net	4.5% effective	Ley 6380/2019 art. 75 and 76
Interest to parent or related lender	INR 15% on 100%	15% effective	Ley 6380/2019 art. 75 and 76
Exchange traded securities	INR exemption for interest and gains	0%	Ley 6380/2019 art. 79 num. 4

Paraguay finance at a glance (BCP rate PYG 5,847.90 per US$, 27 Oct 2026)

Worked example

Funding a Paraguayan subsidiary with US$1 million: as a related party loan at 8 percent, annual interest of US$80,000 (PYG 467,832,000) bears INR withholding of 15 percent, US$12,000 (PYG 70,174,800), and the company's IRE deduction for related party interest is capped (see the FX page). The same amount borrowed from an unrelated foreign bank at 8 percent bears INR of 4.5 percent, US$3,600 (PYG 21,052,440). A bond issued on the Paraguayan exchange and bought by foreign investors can fall within the INR exemption for securities traded through stock exchanges (Ley 6380/2019 art. 79 num. 4; see the traps).
Raising capital locally: a Paraguayan S.A. registers itself and its bond issue with the Superintendencia de Valores, obtains a rating, appoints a bondholders' representative and places the bonds through a casa de bolsa; under Ley 7572/2025 a foreign issuer already listed on a recognised foreign market can instead seek BCP authorization to offer locally, without creating a Paraguayan company.

Step by step

1. Decide whether the activity is financial intermediation: lending only own funds does not need a banking licence; taking funds from the public to lend does (Ley 861/96 art. 1, 3 and 5).
2. For a bank or finance company, prepare the BCP application with the promoter, business plan, ownership chain to the ultimate beneficial owner and director profiles, and fund the indexed minimum capital in cash; the BCP has three months from a complete file and silence means refusal.
3. For a share purchase in a bank or finance company above the BCP threshold, make BCP authorization a condition to closing.
4. For a securities offering, register the issuer and the issue in the Registro Público del Mercado de Valores y Productos, get the rating and external audit, and work through a licensed casa de bolsa; check the BCP regulations issued under Ley 7572/2025 art. 327 for the procedure and fees.
5. Price consumer and card credit against the BCP's monthly published averages, and have card penalty charges approved by the BCP before use.
6. For cross border loans, set the lender type (unrelated or related) with tax in mind, withhold INR when interest is paid, made available or remitted, and keep the loan documents for the IRE deduction.
7. If a listed company holding reaches 10 percent, set up five day trade reporting; for a control bid, plan the public notice and the five business day wait.

Common traps

Silence is refusal: if the BCP does not decide a banking licence within three months of a complete file the application is denied (Ley 861/96 art. 14), and an incomplete file left for six months bars a new filing for twelve months.
The capital in the statute is not the capital required today: the PYG 50,000 million and PYG 25,000 million amounts are 2016 values updated every year by CPI and can be raised by the BCP Board (Ley 861/96 art. 11).
A bank share purchase signed but not authorized by the BCP is not perfected (Ley 861/96 art. 21), so long stop dates must leave room for the BCP review.
Old citations are out of date: Ley 5810/2017, Ley 7162/2023, the investment funds, commodity exchange, rating agency and securitization laws were all repealed by Ley 7572/2025 art. 329; documents and prospectuses citing them need updating, while old BCP and CNV regulations survive only where consistent with the new law.
Ignoring the control offer procedure does not void the deal but exposes the buyer to damages claims from shareholders and third parties (Ley 7572/2025 art. 66).
Moratory interest can never exceed the agreed rate and interest on interest is barred; a contract that sets a higher default rate or capitalizes late interest will not be enforced as written (Ley 489/95 art. 44).
A related party lender pays INR at an effective 15 percent, more than three times the 4.5 percent of an unrelated bank; routing a parent loan through a bank with a back to back guarantee may be challenged as a related operation under Ley 6380/2019.
The INR exemption for exchange traded securities still refers to exchanges regulated by the former Comisión Nacional de Valores (Ley 6380/2019 art. 79 num. 4); confirm treatment of a specific instrument with DNIT before relying on it.

Sources

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