Bolivia Senate Approves Access to Information Bill

Update September 2, 2026: ABI reported that the Senate approved Bill No. 066/2025-2026 on Access to Information in general and in detail during the reinstatement of its 164th ordinary session on August 27, 2026, and sent it to the Chamber of Deputies. The record noted that, as the chamber of origin, the two legislative stages were completed before the bill was forwarded.

Bolivia's Senate approved Bill No. 066/2025-2026 on Access to Public Information and sent it to the Chamber of Deputies for further review. Senator Soledad Chapetón said the measure sets transparency obligations for state institutions when citizens request information.

What is the scope of the approved bill?

The text covers state bodies, public institutions and entities, public companies, public universities, and other entities that manage resources or provide public services, according to Opinión. That scope broadens the range of entities required to provide information when a citizen makes a request.

The same report said the bill sets a 90-day deadline, starting from its publication in the Official Gazette, for rulemaking. It also said the follow-up mechanism will be renamed the Observatory.

How did the legislative process move forward?

After the Senate vote, the bill moved to the Chamber of Deputies, where a committee must review it before it reaches the full chamber, according to Urgente.bo. El Diario also reported that the Senate approved the law and sent it to Deputies for further treatment.

Civil society groups and journalism organizations described the approval as a step toward protecting citizens' right to oversee public administration, according to Urgente.bo. The legislative debate is taking place alongside other regulatory changes in Bolivia tied to fintech and virtual assets.

What is changing in the financial and crypto framework?

Bolivia already has a legal framework for financial inclusion and fintech services grounded in Articles 99 and 100 of Law No. 393 on Financial Services and Supreme Decree No. 5384, which allow the immediate legal viability of technology-based models, according to USFX and CEPI.

On virtual assets, the Central Bank of Bolivia removed a previous rule that barred financial institutions from using electronic payment instruments for transactions involving those assets. Since that change, authorized payment channels can process buy and sell transactions, with the boliviano as the only legal tender.

The UIF also designates certain virtual asset service providers as reporting entities for anti-money-laundering prevention. That means registration and AML controls for those carrying out covered activities for profit, according to the regulatory analysis cited by Binance Research.