Committee
Economy and Fair Work Committee 18 February 2026 [Draft]
18 Feb 2026 · S6 · Economy and Fair Work Committee
Item of business
Digital Assets (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2
Good morning, and welcome to the sixth meeting of the Economy and Fair Work Committee in 2026. This morning, we have three items for consideration: the Digital Assets (Scotland) Bill at stage 2; and agenda items 2 and 3, which will be taken in private.I welcome the minister and his officials. I will briefly explain the procedure that we will follow. Members should have with them a copy of the bill, the marshalled list and the groupings. For anyone who might be observing, the documents are available on the bill’s page on the Scottish Parliament’s website.I will call each amendment individually, in the order on the marshalled list. The groupings paper sets out the amendments in the order that we will debate them. There will be one debate on each group of amendments. In each debate, I will call the minister to move and speak to the lead amendment—today, all the amendments are Government amendments and there are no others. At my discretion, I will then call other members who wish to speak; they should indicate to me or to the clerk that they wish to do so. I will then call the minister to wind up and to either press the amendment or seek to withdraw it. If the amendment is pressed, I will put the question. If there is a division, voting will be by a show of hands. It is important that members keep their hands raised until the clerk has recorded their names. If there is a tie, I will exercise a casting vote. The committee is also required to consider and decide on each section of and schedule to the bill and on the long title. I will put the question on each of those provisions at the appropriate point.Section 1—Meaning of digital asset
In the same item of business
The Convener (Daniel Johnson)
Lab
Good morning, and welcome to the sixth meeting of the Economy and Fair Work Committee in 2026. This morning, we have three items for consideration: the Digit...
The Convener
Lab
Amendment 1, in the name of the minister, is grouped with amendments 2 and 4.
The Minister for Business and Employment (Richard Lochhead)
SNP
Good morning. It is good to join committee members for stage 2 consideration over the next five minutes or so—maybe longer. I thank the committee and all sta...
The Convener
Lab
As no members have indicated that they wish to speak, I invite the minister to wind up, if he wishes to do so, and to press or withdraw amendment 1.
Richard Lochhead
SNP
I thank committee members for understanding the need for the amendments, which are about providing clarity and listening to the feedback in the committee’s r...
The Convener
Lab
Amendment 3, in the name of the minister, is in a group on its own.
Richard Lochhead
SNP
Amendment 3 relates to good-faith acquisition for value in section 4(2) of the bill. In its stage 1 report, the committee called on the Scottish Government t...
Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Con
I welcome the Government’s amendment in response to concerns from the Faculty of Advocates. The one point that occurred to me—we touched on this in stage 1 e...
The Convener
Lab
As no other member has indicated that they wish to speak, I invite the minister to wind up and to press or withdraw the amendment.
Richard Lochhead
SNP
I will just respond to Murdo Fraser and then wind up. We have reflected on all these issues. We are considering stage 3 amendments, but that issue is not one...
The Convener
Lab
That ends consideration of the Digital Assets (Scotland) Bill at stage 2. Although we did not quite meet his five-minute challenge, I thank the minister.10:1...