The Treasury has committed to uncovering secret owners of companies as part of measures to exit the money laundering grey list and boost the country’s economic turnaround.
The plan, outlined in the draft 2027 Budget Policy Statement, seeks to improve beneficial ownership transparency, helping authorities identify the individuals who ultimately own or control companies and trace suspicious financial transactions.
Kenya has struggled to comply fully with regulations that demand disclosing the identities of secret shareholders who control more than 10 percent in firms to the Attorney-General through the Business Registration Service (BRS).
The requirement for filing beneficial ownership information seeks to cover risks of the entities being misused to facilitate criminal activity such as corruption, money laundering, financing of terrorism and the proliferation of tax evasion.
The international crime watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) placed Kenya on its “grey list” of countries that require special scrutiny in 2024 on concerns about money laundering and terrorist financing.
The Treasury push comes after FATF maintained Kenya’s grey-list status in June, more than two years after the country was placed under increased monitoring in February 2024.
The details required for filing in the beneficial ownership disclosures include the names of the substantial shareholder, KRA PIN, National ID or passport copies, postal address, residential address, occupation, telephone number and the date when the investor became a beneficial owner.
‘The National Treasury chairs the National Taskforce on AML/CFT/CPF and will continue to lead a Whole-of-Government effort to complete the remaining items in the FATF Action Plan,’ the Treasury writes in the draft 2027 Budget Policy Statement (BPS).
Countries on the list undergo increased monitoring and must actively work with the FATF, a body that groups countries from the United States to China to tackle financial crime, to correct deficiencies. Research suggests an upgrade from the grey list could trigger more foreign direct investment.
The greater disclosure push also targets trusts, following the enactment of the Trust Administration Act, 2026, which requires existing trusts to submit registers of their beneficial owners within 24 months of the law coming into force.
The law, enacted in September, provides for ownership information to be accessible to authorities such as the Financial Reporting Centre (FRC) and reporting institutions, including financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses and professions.
Greater transparency is intended to make it harder for individuals to conceal their interests behind legal entities, helping authorities investigate suspicious transactions and identify people who benefit from potentially illicit financial flows.
Beneficial ownership requirements already apply to companies trading with the government, partly to expose individuals who secretly benefit from fatty public contracts, including politically exposed persons and public officials.
The Treasury’s latest commitments come as Kenya seeks to end increased monitoring imposed in February 2024 over deficiencies in its efforts to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.
FRC Director-General Naphtaly Rono told Parliament earlier this month that Kenya had addressed 19 of the 21 items in the country’s FATF action plan.
‘Where we are in our efforts to delist from the grey list as a country is …a fairly good place,’ Mr Rono told the National Assembly Committee on Delegated Legislation.
‘We are optimistic that with the momentum and with the support from yourselves and the other stakeholders, we should be able to exit the grey list by April next year,’ he added.
The plan on secret company owners is part of reforms aimed at stepping up money laundering investigations and prosecutions, strengthening the use of financial intelligence and tightening oversight of financial institutions through risk-based supervision.
The government also intends to introduce risk-based regulation of non-profit organisations, which can be vulnerable to abuse for terrorism financing, and align its targeted financial sanctions framework with FATF standards.
These measures build on legislative changes, including the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating of Terrorism Financing Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025, and the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2025, which established a framework for licensing and supervising digital asset firms such as cryptocurrency firms.
The Public Benefit Organisations Regulatory Authority has said Kenya’s grey listing reflected deficiencies in prosecuting money laundering and terrorism financing offences, regulating non-profit organisations, addressing virtual asset risks and enforcing beneficial ownership requirements.
Despite the reforms, risks persist in sectors exposed to illicit financial flows. A 2025 FRC risk assessment found that 282 of 442 entities profiled across four sectors fell into medium- or high-risk categories.
Real estate recorded the highest exposure, with 153 agencies classified as medium or high risk, compared with 40 rated low risk. Law firms followed, with 74 firms in the medium-to-high-risk category and 12 considered low risk.
The findings underline the challenge of ensuring that new laws and tighter supervision translate into effective enforcement, stronger investigations and successful prosecutions.
The Treasury says it will continue reporting progress to FATF and the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group as Kenya works to complete its action plan.
‘Safeguarding the integrity of Kenya’s financial system remains a priority, given its importance for investor confidence, correspondent banking relationships and the cost of external financing,’ the Treasury says in the draft 2027 budget plan.