FRC Tells MPs Kenya Has Cleared 19 of 21 FATF Action Items, Eyes April 2027 Exit

Kenya has cleared 19 of the 21 action items in its Financial Action Task Force action plan and is working towards leaving the grey list in April 2027, the Financial Reporting Centre told the National Assembly Committee on Delegated Legislation on Tuesday, October 13, 2026.

FRC Director-General Naphtaly Kipchirchir Rono told the committee, chaired by Ainabkoi MP Samuel Chepkonga, that six of the items had been completed in the preceding two and a half months. Two remain outstanding, and the packet does not identify them.

Rono described Kenya’s position as relatively strong but tied to continued momentum and support from Parliament and other stakeholders, which he said should allow the country to exit the grey list by April next year.

The grey list covers jurisdictions that FATF assesses as having strategic deficiencies in their defences against money laundering, terrorist financing and, where applicable, proliferation financing, but which have committed to closing those gaps under an agreed action plan. Delisting depends on finishing the remaining items and showing that the measures already adopted are being applied in practice, not just enacted.

MPs were scrutinising the Prevention of Terrorism (Implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions on the Suppression of Terrorism) Regulations, 2026, which create a framework for freezing the assets of designated individuals and entities suspected of involvement in terrorism. The regulations also set out when frozen funds may be released.

Rono said the exemptions trace back to United Nations Security Council resolutions and are confined to essential needs, including medical treatment, basic expenses and humanitarian grounds.

FRC Director of External Relations James Manyonge told the committee that release is not automatic. A person seeking access must apply to the committee and demonstrate the circumstance that justifies it.

On cash withdrawals, Rono said recent legislative amendments had raised the threshold to US$15,000, or roughly KSh1.8 million. He said applying the new limit consistently across commercial banks would need further guidance from the Central Bank of Kenya.

The committee also heard that complementary regulations on proliferation financing, which covers funds and financial services that support the development, acquisition or movement of weapons of mass destruction and related materials, would be tabled in Parliament in the coming week.

The post FRC Tells MPs Kenya Has Cleared 19 of 21 FATF Action Items, Eyes April 2027 Exit appeared first on Nairobi Wire.