May 26, 2008: Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has today renewed the licenses of six stockbrokers and one investment Adviser, who had earlier been given three months to fully comply with the CMA licensing requirements. The stockbrokers whose licenses have been renewed are; Bob Mathews Stockbrokers, Crossfield Securities Limited, Discount Securities Limited, Ngenye Kariuki and Company Limited, Reliable Securities Limited, and Solid Investment Securities Limited, together with WSD Capital Kenya Limited, an investment adviser.

"It is notified for general information that the Authority has in exercise of the lower conferred by section 11(3) (e) and pursuant to section 25 of the Capital Markets Act, today 26th May renewed the licenses of the above firms,” said a
statement from CMA’s Corporate Communications and Market Development Manager, Mr. Samuel Njoroge.

“However the license of Franklin Management Consultants limited has been suspended with effect from May 26, 2008,” says the statement. Several processes are undertaken by the Authority in regard to license renewal including conducting license renewal inspections for the licensee. The results are also communicated to the licensees. The Board of the Authority takes into account several factors in determining whether to renew a licensee. The board of the Authority has the option to either; renew the annual license of a licensee; renew the annual license of a licensee on condition that it meets certain requirements within a stipulated time; or extend the previous year’s license of the licensee for a period of three months.

Ends

Notes to the editor:
The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) was set up in 1989 through an Act of parliament Cap. 485 A Laws of Kenya. The CMA, which is a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal, was constituted and inaugurated in 1990. The CMA is a statutory agency charged with the prime responsibility of regulating the development of orderly, fair and efficient capital markets in Kenya. It licenses and supervises market intermediaries, conducts on-site and off-site market surveillance and enforces compliance, and promotes market integrity and investor confidence.

The principle objectives of CMA are:

• The development of all aspects of the capital markets with particular emphasis on the removal of impediments to, and the creation of incentives for longer term investments in, productive activities;
• To facilitate the existence of a nationwide system of stock market and brokerage services so as to enable wider participation of the general public in stock market;
• To create, maintain and regulate a market in which securities can be issued and traded in an orderly, fair, and efficient manner, through the implementation of a system in which the market participants regulate themselves to the maximum practicable extent;
• To protect investor interests;
• To operate a compensation fund to protect investors from financial loss arising from the failure of a licensed broker or dealer to meet his contractual obligations; and
• To develop a framework to facilitate the use of electronic commerce for the development of capital markets in Kenya.