Kenya was on Friday put on the list of nations that will be under heightened monitoring on how it is countering money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
FATF, an international anti-money laundering watchdog, places a country under increased monitoring when it has deficiencies in dealing with the aforesaid issues, otherwise known as ‘greylisting’.
The targeted country also commits to resolve identified issues within agreed timeframes.
Through a communiqué FATF said that in February 2024, Kenya agreed to ensure compliance with the international Anti-Money Laundering, Countering the Financing of Terrorism, and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (AML/CFT/CPF) obligations.
Kenya will therefore work with FATF and the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) to check and balance its AML/CFT requirements.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ngung’u also acknowledged the nation’s greylisting.
“Kenya has officially been placed on its ‘grey list,’ indicating enhanced monitoring to ensure compliance with international Anti-Money Laundering, Countering the Financing of Terrorism, and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (AML/CFT/CPF) obligations,” he said in a statement.
What Kenya is required to do
Kenya will work to implement its FATF action plan by completing a Task Force (TF) risk assessment and presenting the results of the National Risk Assessment (NRA) and other risk assessments in a consistent manner to competent authorities and the private sector while also updating the national AML/CFT strategies.
The nation is also expected to improve risk-based AML/CFT supervision of financial institutions and adopt a legal framework for the licensing and supervision of Virtual Assets service providers (VASPs).
FAFT further wants Kenya to designate an authority for regulating trusts and collection of accurate beneficial ownership information which will also implement remedial actions for breaches of compliance with transparency requirements for legal persons and arrangements.
Other requirements include improving the use and quality of financial intelligence products, increasing ML and TF investigations and revising the framework for Non-profit Organisation (NPO) regulation and oversight to ensure that mitigating measures are risk-based without disrupting or discouraging legitimate NPO activity.
Other countries which have been grey-listed include Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mali, Mozambique, Namibia Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania Philippines, Jamaica, Haiti, Croatia and Syria.
Those that have now been de-listed include Uganda, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Barbados and Gibraltar.
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