The Financial Reporting Centre (FRC) is Kenya's financial intelligence unit. It does not license or supervise forex brokers, but anti-money-laundering law is why a licensed broker checks who you are before you trade and may ask where your money came from. Knowing that makes those checks easier to pass, and makes a broker that skips them easier to spot.

What the FRC is

The FRC is Kenya's financial intelligence unit, established under the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2009 (POCAMLA). It receives and analyses reports of suspicious transactions from reporting institutions, and passes intelligence to the authorities that investigate financial crime.

Reporting institutions include banks and CMA-licensed intermediaries, online forex brokers among them. That is why a licensed broker checks your identity before you trade and may ask where your money came from.

What it means when you open and fund an account

Anti-money-laundering rules explain most of the paperwork a licensed broker asks for:

  • Identity: a national ID or passport, and often a selfie or video check.
  • Address: a recent document showing where you live.
  • Source of funds: on a larger deposit, evidence of where the money came from, such as a payslip or bank statement.
  • Withdrawals to your own name only: brokers usually pay out to the account or wallet you deposited from.
Sumsub's document choice for Kenya: ID card, passport, residence permit or driving licence
XM: Identity verification by Sumsub: issuing country Kenya, and a choice of ID card, passport, residence permit or driving licence, then a liveness check.
Address verification powered by Sumsub
Exness: Address verification, powered by Sumsub: a bank, utility, government or mobile operator document from the last 12 months.
The Employment Status and Financial Background step
Scope Markets: Employment, annual income, savings, property, source of wealth and an intended first deposit in US dollars ("1 USD = 100 KES").

What the FRC does not do

The FRC does not license brokers, set trading rules or handle complaints. A complaint about a licensed broker goes to the broker first, then to the CMA.

A firm that never checks who you are, at any stage, is not doing you a favour: it is a warning sign. Check it against the broker warning list.

Timing varies at licensed brokers. Some of those we tested held us back until the checks were done: one blocked trading and withdrawals, and another set our deposit and withdrawal limits at zero, until our documents were verified. Others let us start first: AvaTrade issued our logins before it asked for our documents, and IC Markets let us fund the account before it had confirmed them, with the review following.

XM's document verification step
XM: Before verification: trading access and withdrawals are not permitted until documents are received and verified.
The client portal dashboard before verification, name masked
Scope Markets: Before verification: deposit and withdrawal limits of USD 0, and four steps to complete. Our name is masked.

Frequently asked questions

Does the FRC regulate forex brokers?
No. The FRC is Kenya's financial intelligence unit. Forex brokers are licensed and supervised by the CMA.
Why does my broker want proof of where my money came from?
Anti-money-laundering law requires it to know its customers and to report suspicious transactions. A request for source of funds is routine at licensed firms, especially on larger deposits.
Can I withdraw to someone else's account?
Usually not. Licensed brokers generally pay withdrawals only to an account or wallet in your own name, to stop the platform being used to move money for someone else.