On 7 September 2026, Law No. 10,973[1] was published and entered into force. The law amends the Securities Market Regulatory Act to introduce, among other mechanisms, two concepts that will be key to the future of the Costa Rican securities market: recognized jurisdictions and remote operators.
Although both terms may sound technical, they respond to a simple idea: allowing greater connection with international markets without losing the controls that protect investors and keep the local market orderly.
The reform, however, does not create an automatic or unrestricted opening. Its application will depend on the prior recognition of the relevant jurisdictions, on the admission of each remote operator, and on compliance with the regulatory and operational rules that must be issued within the deadlines set by the law itself.
I- What is a recognized jurisdiction?
A recognized jurisdiction is, in simple terms, a country —or certain markets within it— that the National Council for the Supervision of the Financial System (CONASSIF) recognizes, subject to a prior opinion from the General Superintendency of Securities (SUGEVAL), because it has sound rules, effective supervision, adequate investor protection, and mechanisms for cooperation and information exchange between authorities.
This recognition is not a general authorization for any foreign security to reach the Costa Rican market automatically. Nor does it mean that everything happening in a recognized country is accepted without review. The law allows full or partial recognition, including by product, segment, or type of market within a country. Moreover, that recognition may be revisited over time to include or exclude countries or markets, so it does not operate as a permanent or unconditional permit.
II- What is a remote operator?
A remote operator is a foreign securities intermediary that is already authorized and supervised in a recognized jurisdiction and that a Costa Rican exchange admits operating directly in its trading systems under a reciprocity arrangement. In practice, this allows certain foreign intermediaries to enter buy and sell orders in the local market, either for their own account or on behalf of third parties, but only at the request of investors from their home country. Transactions must also be settled through local custodians and settlement agents.
A remote operator is not a Costa Rican brokerage house, nor does it acquire the status of an owner-member of a local exchange. It may not solicit clients in Costa Rica or publicly offer securities or financial instrument intermediation services in the country. Its participation is limited to registered securities and to the transactions permitted within the trading mechanisms of the exchange that admits it.
III- Home-country supervision and local control of transactions
The home-country regulator retains primary supervision of the remote operator as an intermediary, but Costa Rican exchanges keep significant powers over what happens in their systems. They may admit the operator, request information, monitor its transactions, suspend it, or even terminate its admission where risks to the market or to investors arise. In addition, the operator must appoint an attorney-in-fact in Costa Rica to handle matters before SUGEVAL and the relevant exchange, as well as to receive notices.
The underlying rationale is to leverage the regulatory trust built by well-supervised markets. If a foreign jurisdiction has comparable standards and there is cooperation between authorities, Costa Rica may recognize certain effects of that regulation in order to facilitate cross-border transactions. Nevertheless, that recognition does not remove local filters: admission of the remote operator, the provision of information, local settlement, and the exchange’s powers remain essential parts of the model.
Why does this distinction matter? Because it helps avoid two extremes. The goal is neither to open the Costa Rican market entirely to any foreign intermediary nor to keep it closed to every form of international integration. The reform creates a middle path: greater connection with other markets, yes, but subject to prior recognition, controlled admission, operational limits, and coordination between supervisors.
IV- Why is this securities market reform relevant?
The reform facilitates integration of the securities market in two directions. On the one hand, recognition of registrations and authorizations granted in other jurisdictions could make it easier to bring foreign securities and instruments into the Costa Rican market. On the other hand, the participation of remote operators could allow non-domiciled investors to access securities registered in Costa Rica more easily.
For Costa Rican issuers, this could open the possibility of reaching a broader investor base and improving the liquidity of their issuances. For the market as a whole, it could encourage a wider range of participants, instruments, and transactions.
Even so, these effects will not materialize automatically. They will depend, among other factors, on which jurisdictions are recognized, on the existence of reciprocity conditions, on the interest of foreign intermediaries, and on the content of the regulations issued by CONASSIF and the stock exchanges.
V- What comes next after Law No. 10,973?
Although Law No. 10,973 took effect upon publication, the new regime requires additional regulation to operate fully. In this regard, CONASSIF has a maximum period of six months from publication of the law to issue the regulations within its remit. The stock exchanges will then have an additional maximum period of six months from the issuance of the CONASSIF rules to approve their own rules for the admission and operation of foreign intermediaries.
Publication of the law is therefore the starting point of the process. Its true scope will be measurable once the recognized jurisdictions, the admission requirements for remote operators, and the specific conditions under which they may participate in the Costa Rican market are defined.
You can access the complete Law HERE.
Costa Rica has thus chosen a selective, regulated opening: greater connection with international markets, coupled with requirements of prior recognition, reciprocity, information exchange, and control over transactions carried out locally.
At Consortium Legal we are monitoring the regulations to be issued by CONASSIF and the stock exchanges. If your company is assessing the impact of this reform on its issuances, its investment strategy, or its trading operations, our Securities and Financial Markets team in Costa Rica is available to assist.
[1] “Law to facilitate the trading of foreign securities in Costa Rica through the implementation of jurisdiction recognition and the participation of non-domiciled investors by means of remote operation of foreign securities intermediaries”.