wmlro.com: Kenya's continued AML law brinkmanship
In December 2009, Kenya at last passed something that looks like a law to combat money laundering. It's supposed to come into force at the end of this month. There seems to be little hope of that happening and even less of the institutions under the Act being in place.
The The Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2009 was signed into law on 31 December 2009 with a commencement date of not later than 30 June 2010. But so far, there is no sign of it being gazetted for an in-force date.
Although the Act appears to be broadly in accord with the law in many other countries, it may not be as effective as hoped.
The scope of the "Reporting Institutions" is broad: banks, insurance companies and brokers, stockbrokers, accountants, estate agents, bureaux de change, jewellers and some law firms plus several other sectors. It also includes a "cash transaction reporting threshold" of the equivalent of USD10,000.
But, critics of the law say, there is no obligation for reporting institutions to periodically update customer due diligence information - and the central bank, as regulator, has not provided any guidance.
A yet, the law does appear on the central bank's website and nor do any guidance notes relating to the new Act.
However, there are regulatory notices demonstrating that money laundering was previously dealt with in a regulatory fashion, as envisaged by the Bank of International Settlements prior to the creation of the FATF.
However, observers have noticed that none of the institutions required by the Act - an FIU, an Asset Recovery Agency and more - have appeared and there is no public evidence that they are being formed.
Download PDF version of this page