Financial Reporting Centre · FRC
Kenya's anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing intelligence unit — receives suspicious transaction reports and refers cases to law enforcement.
Mandate
Established under the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2009. Receives and analyses Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and Cash Transaction Reports from banks, MFIs, SACCOs, casinos, real-estate agents, lawyers, and accountants. Disseminates intelligence to investigative agencies.
How it works
Reporting institutions submit STRs through goAML or hard copy. FRC analysts review, enrich, and forward to the Asset Recovery Agency, EACC, ODPP, DCI, or KRA depending on the predicate offence. FRC is a member of the Egmont Group, which means it can exchange intelligence with peer FIUs globally.
Why it matters
Compliance burden on banks and other reporting institutions runs through the FRC framework. Kenya's FATF / ESAAMLG ratings depend significantly on FRC effectiveness — a weak rating triggers grey-listing, with real costs to correspondent banking and capital flows. Kenya was grey-listed in February 2024.
What to watch
FATF/ESAAMLG mutual evaluation reports. STR volumes and conversion to prosecutions. Grey-list status shifts.
More from Kenya — monetary and fiscal authorities
- Central Bank of Kenya · CBK
Kenya's monetary authority, banking regulator, currency issuer, and government banker — the most powerful financial institution in the country.
- The National Treasury and Economic Planning · Treasury
The Ministry that designs the budget, manages public debt, and runs the broader macro-fiscal architecture. The CBK's counterparty.
- Kenya Revenue Authority · KRA
The agency that collects every tax — income tax, VAT, excise, customs, capital gains, withholding — and assesses, audits, and prosecutes.
- Kenya National Bureau of Statistics · KNBS
The official producer of every macro statistic — GDP, CPI, employment, population, poverty — and the institution that defines what 'Kenya' looks like to economists.
- Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation · KDIC
The deposit insurer — guarantees depositors up to KES 500,000 per depositor per bank if their bank fails, and resolves failed banks.