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Sensitizing Kenya’s Private Sector Institutions on the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risks

Nairobi (Kenya) – 30 September 2024 – The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in collaboration with the Financial Reporting Centre (FRC) and with the generous support from the Government of Canada, convened a two-day training event aimed at increasing the awareness of Money Laundering Reporting Officers (MLROs) in Kenya’s financial sector. Earlier this year, Kenya was placed on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list over strategic deficiencies against money laundering and terrorism financing. Being on this grey list is an indictment of a country’s ability to identify and effectively redress financial crimes. 

As a result, UNODC organized this workshop with three main objectives: first, to provide participants with an understanding of why and how Kenya was grey listed; second, to outline the FATF action plan that Kenya has to follow to be removed from the grey list; and finally, to define the actions the financial sector can take to contribute to achieving this goal. Over 600 individuals representing diverse financial entities, including banks, Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOS), insurance agencies, mobile money firms, and forex bureaus operating within Kenya's private sector, participated in the workshop.

The training provided a platform for peer-to-peer knowledge exchange, enabling participants to share their experiences and best practices across different financial institutions.   Participating institutions also had the opportunity to share how they implement Kenya Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT) legal requirements, including conducting instructional risk assessments, risk-based know-your-customer requirements, and reporting suspicious transactions, among others. Speaking during the event, Ms. Erica Wakisha, Senior Manager at Safaricom PLC's Money Laundering and Reporting Officer, urged participants to demonstrate the impact of Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CFT) compliance in the private sector institutions. She commended the integration of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into their combat money laundering and countering the terrorism and proliferation financing (AML/CFT/CPF) policies and procedures, highlighting the positive impact of compliance.

Participants also had an opportunity to discuss AML/CFT compliance sector-specific issues. They identified gaps, which led to defining collective actions they can take to address these shortcomings and the strategies for addressing them.  The workshop format and presentations allowed for mitigating competitive dynamics among the financial institutions present and fostered trust.

This workshop has stirred up interest among financial institutions with gaps in compliance to enhance their compliance and improve their collaboration to achieve acceptable compliance levels. This activity is anticipated to prompt concerted efforts to address the FATF action plan, resulting in Kenya being removed from the FATF grey list. 

For more information, please contact: 

Ms. Atuweni-Tupochile Agbermodji (atuweni.agbermodji@un.org)

Adviser, Global Programme Against Money Laundering

UNODC Regional Office for Eastern Africa