The BO regulation has been passed, so the Registrar (BRS) is collecting beneficial ownership information in Kenya. This means that competent authorities can start having access to this information. In the regulations, “competent authority” refers to the Attorney-General, any criminal investigation agency established by law, law enforcement agencies, authorities that supervise and monitor the financial sector, including the Financial Reporting Centre and the Kenya Revenue Authority. According to the Department of Justice, this means any international law enforcement agency (qualifying to be a competent authority under this act) needs to write to the Business Registration Service to get the info.

Ghana and Kenya recently launched Africa’s newest online central beneficial ownership (BO) registers in October of this year.

Updated: October 31, 2020

The definition of competent authority does not explicitly include international law enforcement agencies, so they could or could not be considered part of the competent authority category. However, Kenya has a Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act and a Mutual Legal Assistance Act, which have been recently strengthened to ensure effective cross-borders collaborations.

Peer reviewer: 1

Updated: April 30, 2020

The regulations that guide the development of the register are currently undergoing public review . The register is set to be accessed at varying degrees by citizens and Law enforcement agencies. The definition section of the regulations however seem to restrict access to Local Law enforcement agencies as competent authorities as defined are contextualised within the republic.

Updated: May 30, 2019

The drafting of the regulations has opened up a discussion regarding who gets to access the information in the database - stakeholder discussions.

Updated: October 30, 2018