Fiscal Nepal
First Business News Portal in English from Nepal
swornim wagle parliament
KATHMANDU: Nepal’s House of Representatives has approved the Money Laundering Prevention (Third Amendment) Ordinance, 2026 (2083 BS), paving the way for the government to introduce a replacement bill and institutionalize the new legal provisions through parliamentary legislation.
The ordinance was issued by the government during a period when Parliament was not in session and was tabled in the House of Representatives on Baisakh 28, 2083, the first day of the federal parliament’s current session.
The ordinance had faced criticism from opposition parties, which argued that the government should have introduced a bill through Parliament instead of promulgating an ordinance.
During the parliamentary proceedings, Nita Ghatani, a lawmaker from Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), registered a proposal seeking the rejection of the ordinance.
Speaker of the House presented the proposal for decision during Thursday’s meeting. However, the proposal failed to secure parliamentary approval.
Following the rejection of the opposition motion, Finance Minister Swarnim Waglé tabled a proposal seeking formal approval of the ordinance. The House subsequently endorsed the ordinance by a majority vote.
With parliamentary approval secured, the government can now move forward with introducing a replacement bill to convert the ordinance into permanent law.
Under Nepal’s constitutional and legal provisions, an ordinance must be replaced by legislation within 60 days of being tabled in Parliament. The replacement bill must be passed by both houses of the Federal Parliament of Nepal and receive presidential authentication before becoming an Act.
This means the government must complete the legislative process within 60 days of Baisakh 28, 2083, including passage by both parliamentary chambers and certification by the President.
Failure to do so would automatically render the ordinance ineffective, causing all new provisions introduced through the ordinance, as well as amendments made to existing laws, to lapse.
The approval of the ordinance comes as Nepal continues efforts to strengthen its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing framework, improve financial transparency, and align domestic regulations with international standards.
The replacement legislation is expected to be closely watched by regulators, financial institutions, businesses, and international development partners, given its significance for Nepal’s financial governance and compliance framework.
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