The CMA's list of licensees

The Capital Markets Authority publishes a list of entities it has licensed to carry on capital-market activities in Kenya. The table above shows each entry exactly as the source wrote it: the name, the licence number, the licence category, and a link. A row records what the source published, not a finding of this site.

Licensees named by the CMA

The licensee's name as listed and the licence category.

What a licence is

A licence is a permission for named activities. The CMA licenses entities to act as brokers, investment advisers, fund managers, and other categories. The category shown with each name tells the reader what the entity is licensed to do.

A licence in one category does not authorise other activities. An entity licensed as an investment adviser is not thereby licensed as a broker. The table shows the category as the source published it.

The columns of the table

The table above has one row for each licensee. The first column shows the name exactly as the source wrote it. The second column shows the licence number the list gives; the list gives no date per licence. The third column shows the licence category. The fourth column is a link to the original on the CMA website.

A reader should open the link and read the full entry. The table is a pointer to the source, not a substitute. The source may contain details that the table does not show.

How to check a name

When checking a platform, take the exact legal name from its terms and conditions, not the brand in an advert. Search that name in the licensee table. The name must match exactly; a similar name is not the same entity.

A platform may use a trading name that differs from its legal name. The CMA list uses the legal name. If the platform does not give its legal name, that is a gap in the check. Ask for it in writing.

What a licence does not mean

A licence does not mean the CMA endorses the entity or its products. It means the entity is permitted to carry on the named activities. A licensed broker is not a promise of profit or safety.

A licence also does not cover activities outside its category. An entity licensed as a fund manager is not licensed to act as a broker. The table shows the category, and a reader should check that the category matches what the platform offers.

The list is a snapshot

The licensee list is a snapshot taken at the time of the reading, whose date is printed under the table. The Authority can add or remove names at any time. A row in the table reflects what the source published on the day it was read.

A reader should check the CMA website directly before acting. A change after that reading will not appear until the table is read again; this site does not run on a schedule.

What to do if a name is not found

A name not found in the licensee list is not shown by that fact to be unlawful. The absence of a name means only that the name did not appear on the list at the time of the read. The platform may be licensed in another category, or by another regulator.

If a name is not found, check the caution table, and ask the platform for its legal entity and regulator. The page on online forex explains what to ask a forex platform.

The licensee table shows categories, not permissions to sell every product

A CMA licence is granted for a specific activity: a fund manager, an investment adviser, a stockbroker, a forex broker where allowed, or another category. The table places each licensee in its category. A reader who finds a name must still check that the product being offered matches that category.

A platform licensed as an investment adviser cannot automatically trade forex on a client's behalf. The CMA's online forex rules set out which category may deal in leveraged foreign exchange. The table is the starting point, but the category column is the control. A name in the table does not mean every activity on the platform's website is covered.

Failure to read the category is a common way a check goes wrong. A reader sees a name, stops, and assumes the platform's entire menu is licensed. The table's category is the boundary of the licence. Anything outside it is unlicensed activity, even if the entity is on the list.

The CMA's list is updated only when the regulator acts, not in real time

The licensee table reflects the CMA's register at the moment of the latest update. The regulator adds entities when it grants a licence and removes them when it suspends or revokes one. Between those actions, the table is static. A platform's status can change before the public sees the change.

A reader checking today may be looking at a table that is already out of date. The CMA publishes its actions through gazette notices and its website, but the site's feed may lag. The check is strongest when it is repeated close to the time of a transaction, not done once and forgotten.

This does not mean the table is unreliable. It means it is an official record at a point in time. A platform that claims to be licensed but does not appear may simply have been licensed after the last update. The reader's next step is to contact the CMA directly for confirmation, not to assume either way.

A Kenyan licence does not cover a platform's overseas operations

Many platforms that solicit Kenyans are incorporated elsewhere and hold a licence from another regulator. A CMA licence only applies to activities conducted in Kenya under Kenyan law. An overseas licence does not appear on the CMA's table, and a CMA licence does not appear on a foreign regulator's table.

A platform may show a licence from a jurisdiction with a familiar name, but that document is not the same as a CMA licence. The CMA's table is the only list of entities the CMA itself has licensed. Any other licence must be checked against its own regulator, and its validity for Kenyan clients is a separate question.

The practical consequence is that a reader who sees a licence from another country should not treat it as a substitute for the CMA's list. The CMA's rules for online forex, for example, require a local licence for certain activities. An overseas licence may be genuine and still not authorise the platform to operate in Kenya.

A licence can be suspended or revoked, and the table will show the change only after the fact

The CMA has the power to suspend or revoke a licence. When it does, the entity is removed from the active list. The removal is a regulator's act, published after the decision. A reader who checked the list before the removal would have seen the entity as licensed. The check is only as good as its timing.

This creates a window between the CMA's decision and the public's awareness. A platform may continue to advertise and accept funds during that window. The reader's defence is to check the table on the same day as any proposed transaction, and to prefer platforms whose licence has been stable over a long period.

The table does not carry a history of past suspensions. A name that appears today may have been absent for a period. The reader cannot tell from the table alone whether the licence has been continuous. That history is in the CMA's gazette notices, which are separate from the table.

The table lists the licensee, not the people who run it

A CMA licence is granted to a company, not to its directors, shareholders, or employees. The table does not name individuals. A person who promotes a platform on social media may be an employee, an agent, or an unrelated third party. Their personal credibility is not evidence about the company's licence.

The check must focus on the company name. A reader who is told 'the CEO is well known' or 'the agent has many clients' is being given information that the table cannot verify. The CMA's register does not vouch for individuals. Only the corporate entity's presence on the list matters.

This distinction is important because many platforms in Kenya are promoted through personal networks. A friend or relative may recommend a platform and show their own account. That person's experience does not change the company's licensing status. The table is the only source of truth for the licence.

The table is not a filter for the CMA's cautions, and the cautions are not a filter for the table

The licensee table and the caution table are two separate lists. A name can appear on one, the other, or neither. The CMA does not cross-reference them for the reader. A platform may be licensed and still have an older caution from before it was licensed, or a caution may be issued after a licence is revoked.

A reader must check both lists independently. Finding a name on the licensee table does not mean there is no caution. Finding a name on the caution table does not mean it is not licensed. The two tables answer different questions: 'Who is licensed?' and 'Who has the CMA warned about?' The full check requires both answers.

The order of operations is: check the licensee table by exact legal name; check the caution table by the same name and by any brand names used; then compare the dates and the products. Only after both tables have been read can the reader judge the platform's status. Neither table alone is sufficient.

A licensee's category narrows what it may do

The CMA licenses entities for specific activities, and the table shows that category. A stockbroker is not licensed to run a collective investment scheme, and a fund manager is not licensed to act as a securities exchange. Reading the category is part of the check, because an entity that is licensed for one thing may offer something else through the same brand. The table tells the reader what the CMA has actually authorised.

When a platform advertises a service, compare that service to the category in the table. If the service is outside the category, the licence does not cover it. This matters because some entities use a licensed name to build trust and then direct Kenyans to an unlicensed product. The category column is the boundary of the licence, not the limit of what the entity might try to sell.

The CMA updates the table when licences are granted, renewed, suspended, or revoked. A category can change, and an entity can hold more than one licence if it applies and qualifies. The reader should check the current table each time, not rely on a screenshot from a WhatsApp group. The table is the CMA's own record, and the category is what the CMA has decided to allow.

The licensee list is not a directory of approved brands

A reader who sees a trading name in a WhatsApp group and finds that exact name in the CMA table may think the platform is therefore vetted. The table records the legal entity that holds a licence, not the brand under which that entity markets itself. Two different brands can be operated by one licensed company, and a single brand can be operated by different companies in different countries. The check that matters is the legal entity named in the platform's terms and conditions, not the logo on the advertisement.

The CMA publishes the list so that a person can match the exact legal name given by a platform against the register. If the platform refuses to state its legal entity, or gives one that is not in the table, the absence of a match is a fact to weigh. The table itself does not state which brands belong to which entity, and it does not list trading names as separate rows. A name that looks familiar may be absent because it is a brand, not a licensee.

This distinction causes most mismatches. A platform may call itself by a name that resembles a licensed company but is not that company. The table does not confirm that a brand is connected to a licensee just because the words are similar. The reader must ask the platform for its full legal entity and then search that exact string in the table. Only the entity's own name, as registered with the CMA, will appear.