The Business Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 (the Bill) which is currently undergoing public participation is seeking to introduce legal provisions to increase the minimum core capital requirement for Kenyan banks and mortgage finance companies from KES 250 million to KES 10 billion within the next three years. The rationale being that banks with sufficient capital...Read More

Introduction On 14th October, 2024, the Central Bank of Kenya (the CBK) issued a press release confirming that in accordance with section 43 of the Banking Act (Cap 488, Laws of Kenya), it was granting authority to JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., a financial conglomerate domiciled in the USA, to establish a Representative Office in Kenya....Read More

Background On 17th October, 2024, the Business Registration Service (BRS), a state entity established under the BRS Act of 2015 issued a notice requiring companies to prepare and maintain a register of Beneficial owners by 30th November, 2024. This is in line with the Companies Act, 2015 and Companies (Beneficial Ownership Information) Regulations, 2020. The...Read More

Introduction While the economic downturn globally has seen a rise in loan defaults, there has been a rise in cases where individuals claim they have not defaulted on loan payments but are nonetheless adversely listed with credit reference bureaus (CRBs). Banks, microfinance banks and other credit providers have a legal obligation to forward to the...Read More

On 14th May, 2024, more than 10 years after its passing, the Public Benefits Organisation Act, 2013 has been brought into effect. This will bring much needed change to the non-profit landscape in Kenya. Generally, the type of non-profit entity that a person chooses depends on what activity or function you want the non-profit to...Read More

Every so often a case like the recent Erdemann case pops up and Kenyans are aghast. How can a court give a bank the right to auction off properties that have been seemingly sold off to homeowners by a developer? The situation is regrettable but the cause of this is simple enough: buyers on average...Read More

What is a share buyback? A share buyback is a purchase by a company of its own shares from a shareholder. One of the main reasons for a company to purchase its own shares is to return surplus cash to shareholders. An obvious advantage of a company implementing a share buyback is that it pays...Read More

What is the process of registering a short-term rental? Unfortunately in Kenya, no unified framework exists for the registration of short-term rentals. A reason for this might be that the proliferation of short-term guest accommodation has been a very recent phenomenon spurred by the entry of online platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com. Even countries...Read More

What are time limitations and why do they exist? There are instances where a person may institute a claim in court and the suit is subsequently struck out because it is time barred. This is because Kenya’s Limitation of Actions Act, amongst other pieces of legislation, fixes a time limit within which an action must...Read More

At present, the housing gap in Kenya stands at 250,000 annually and rising. A burgeoning middle class and rapid urbanization have resulted in heavy demand for housing. Off-plan sales, which have had success in multiple jurisdictions have had a rocky history in the country. From the Simple Homes Housing co-operative debacle of 2017 to the...Read More