The Central Bank of Kenya revoked the license of Crown Bureau de Change according to a gazette notice dated 8th June 2020. Forex bureaus in Kenya are regulated by the Central Bank.
The Forex Bureau market has experienced rapid growth in recent times due to increased demand for foreign exchange and money transfer business. CBK did not issue an explanation for revoking the license of Crown Bureau de Change.
The bureaus were first licensed in Kenya in January 1995 to foster competition in the foreign exchange market and to narrow the exchange rate spread in the market. As authorized dealers, forex bureaus conduct business and are regulated under the provisions of the Central Bank of Kenya Act (Cap 491).
The Central Bank of Kenya may suspend the license of a foreign exchange bureau for such period as it may specify if the bureau fails to comply with the provisions of the Central Bank of Kenya Act or any conditions attached to the license.
The Central Bank of Kenya may revoke the license of a foreign exchange bureau in cases where the bureau fails to conduct foreign exchange transactions within six (6) months of the date of the issue of the license, the bureau is found to have ceased to conduct the operations authorized by the license, a company is incapable of existing in law or of carrying on its operations or of meeting capital requirements or fulfilling any other provisions of these guidelines.
A forex bureau can also be shut if it fails to pay the required license fees by the stipulated date; the beneficial owners of the bureau, or the bureau itself, is convicted by any court of competent jurisdiction, in Kenya or elsewhere, of an offense related to the use or laundering, in any manner, of illegal proceeds, or is an affiliate or subsidiary of a company that has been so convicted, and such conviction is not overturned on appeal.
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