Online forex money managers occupy a distinct licence category under Kenya’s capital markets regulations, separate from both dealing and non-dealing forex brokers. Firms that manage client forex trading activity on a discretionary basis, rather than simply executing client-directed trades, need this specific licence from the Capital Markets Authority (CMA). The requirements are lighter on capital than a broker licence but carry their own governance and documentation obligations that are easy to underestimate.

What a Money Manager Licence Covers

Under the Capital Markets (Online Foreign Exchange Trading) Regulations, 2017, a money manager is licensed to manage client forex trading activity, distinct from the execution function performed by a broker. A money manager cannot operate independently of the licensed broker infrastructure; the CMA’s checklist requires evidence of an agreement with an Online Foreign Exchange Broker already licensed by the Authority before a money manager application will be considered complete. This means the money manager licence is, by design, a second layer sitting on top of the brokered market rather than a standalone route into forex trading. In practice, this category tends to suit asset managers and advisory firms that want to offer discretionary forex trading as a service to clients, without also building and maintaining the brokerage infrastructure a dealing or non-dealing licence would require.

Capital Requirements

The Capital Markets (Online Foreign Exchange Trading) Regulations, 2017 (Legal Notice 226 of 2017) and the CMA’s own money manager checklist set the following minimum thresholds:

• Minimum paid-up capital of Kshs. 10,000,000, which must not be impaired at any point.
• Liquid capital maintained at all times at the higher of Kshs. 5,000,000 or 8% of total liabilities.
• Application fee of Kshs. 2,500 under the Second Schedule to the Regulations, though the First Schedule separately states Kshs. 10,000 in its notes, an unresolved inconsistency within the currently-in-force text rather than an old figure being superseded. The Second Schedule figure matches CMA’s public guidance and is the more likely operative one, but this should be confirmed directly with CMA. An annual fee of Kshs. 100,000 applies once licensed.

These figures are notably lower than the equivalent thresholds for a non-dealing forex broker licence, which requires Kshs. 30,000,000 in paid-up capital. The distinction reflects that a money manager does not hold client funds in the same way an executing broker does, but the lower capital bar is offset by an equally demanding governance and personnel checklist. Applicants should not treat the lower capital figure as a signal that the licence is easier to obtain overall; the documentation burden is, if anything, comparable to that of a broker application.

Documentation and Policy Requirements

Regulations 4 and 5 of the Capital Markets (Online Foreign Exchange Trading) Regulations, 2017 (as amended by Legal Notice 160 of 2023), together with the Capital Markets (Corporate Governance) (Market Intermediaries) Regulations, 2011, set out the documentation package required. This is self-contained to forex broker and money manager licensing and does not draw on the general Capital Markets (Licensing Requirements) (General) Regulations, 2025 that governs stockbrokers and investment banks. Applicants must submit:

• A duly executed Form 1 application, certificate of incorporation, and memorandum and articles of association for a company incorporated in Kenya and limited by shares.
• An executed agreement with a CMA-licensed Online Foreign Exchange Broker.
• Six written policies: client on-boarding, individual investor risk assessment, a company-wide risk management framework, anti-money laundering and know-your-client checks, a product sensitisation and client appropriateness framework, and an international dispute resolution mechanism for client complaints.
• Unaudited accounts for the period ending no earlier than six months before the application, plus two years of audited accounts, or an auditor’s certificate for a newly established entity.
• A Chief Executive who is fit and proper under section 24A of the Capital Markets Act, with at least five years’ experience buying, selling, managing, or dealing in forex, forex futures, or futures contracts, and membership of a recognised professional body.

Governance Structure

The board and personnel requirements mirror those imposed on forex brokers. The board must have a minimum of three directors, at least a third of whom are natural persons and at least a third of whom are independent and non-executive, with no more than a third being close relations of one another. The chairman must be a non-executive director, and a director may not hold more than two directorships in market intermediaries unless they are subsidiaries or holding companies of each other. An audit committee of at least three independent, non-executive directors is required, and the company must appoint a Company Secretary who is a member of the Institute of Certified Secretaries in good standing, together with a Compliance Officer accredited by the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments (CISI), who may also serve as the Anti-Money Laundering Reporting Officer.

Key personnel, including the Chief Financial Officer and Internal Auditor, must be members of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK), and the Internal Auditor cannot also hold the Compliance Officer role. Shareholders, directors, and key personnel must each provide a declaration of compliance and a clearance certificate from a licensed Credit Reference Bureau confirming no default in payment of dues at any securities exchange, clearing house, central bank, or bank.

Ongoing Compliance and Enforcement

Licensing is the starting point, not the end point. A money manager must maintain its minimum paid-up and liquid capital continuously, not only at the point of application, and must keep its underlying broker agreement current, since the licence is conditional on that relationship remaining in place. Regulation 15 also requires monthly certified reports to the CMA within fifteen days of each month end, including customer complaint status, evidence of daily reconciliations, reports on total funds under management, full management accounts, and risk-based capital adequacy returns.The CMA can suspend a licence under regulation 10 on any of fourteen grounds, including failure to comply with licence conditions or CMA directives, false or incomplete reporting, non-cooperation with an inspection, insider trading or market manipulation, financial deterioration, non-payment of fees, or failing to use the licence within a year of grant or ceasing business for more than thirty days without CMA approval.Revocation under regulation 11 applies where suspension grounds continue unresolved, or separately where the money manager has engaged in insider trading, market manipulation or unfair practice, has been convicted of a criminal offence or found guilty of fraud, has failed to comply with a CMA directive, or where revocation is necessary to protect investors. Automatic revocation under regulation 12 is narrower still and applies only on court-declared insolvency, voluntary surrender of the licence, or a court-ordered winding up, not simply for inactivity.Given how closely the money manager function is tied to the broker relationship it depends on, a lapse or dispute on the broker side can create compliance exposure on the money manager side even where the money manager itself has done nothing wrong, which is worth building into any ongoing risk review.

Foreign-Regulated Applicants

Where the applicant is a subsidiary or branch of a money manager already regulated in another jurisdiction, the CMA requires a letter from the foreign regulator confirming the entity is licensed and in good standing, together with a no-objection letter permitting Kenyan operations. This applies in addition to, not instead of, the full local documentation package.

How This Fits the Wider CMA Framework

The money manager category sits alongside dealing and non-dealing forex brokers within the CMA’s online forex trading regime, and none of the three licences substitutes for another. For a broader view of how CMA licensing works across securities dealers, fund managers, investment advisers, and other intermediaries, see our overview of Capital Markets Authority licensing in Kenya. Firms operating in the wider regulated financial sector may also want to review our financial services industry practice.

How We Can Help

Clay & Associates Advocates advises money managers and forex brokers on CMA licensing applications, the underlying broker agreements the licence depends on, and ongoing compliance obligations including AML policy drafting and corporate governance structuring. Because the money manager licence sits on top of an existing broker relationship, getting the broker agreement and the money manager application aligned from the outset avoids delay at CMA review stage. Contact our regulatory and compliance team to discuss an application or a compliance review of an existing licence.

Sources: Capital Markets (Online Foreign Exchange Trading) Regulations, 2017 (Legal Notice 226 of 2017), available via Kenya Law; Capital Markets Authority, Money Manager compliance checklist.

Related Reading

Money manager licensing sits alongside our guide to non-dealing forex broker licensing and CBK forex bureau licensing (a distinct, CBK-regulated category). Source: Capital Markets (Online Foreign Exchange Trading) Regulations, 2017 (Legal Notice 226 of 2017, as amended).

Applying for a CMA money manager licence? Clay & Associates Advocates advises on CMA licence applications and fit and proper preparation. Contact us to discuss your application.