markets will therefore enable us maintain this critical balance. kenya like other developing economies is quite vulnerable to money laundering and terrorism financing due to a number of displacement factors ; key amongst them being a high volume of cash based transactions, lack of an adequate legal framework and the existence of alternative remittance avenues. i am glad to note that the government of kenya has taken a keen interest on these issues and has, and is continuing to undertake a number of initiatives towards addressing these challenges. the central bank, in addition to the initiatives i have just mentioned, is developing regulations to strengthen the money remittance sector. ladies and gentlemen ; it is my sincere hope that this forum will contribute to a better understanding of the aml / cft issues affecting the country and will generate ideas that will bring the fight against the organized crimes up to international standards. it is now my pleasure to invite the hon. assistant minister, ministry of finance, dr. oburu odinga, to address you and to officially open this forum. thank you all. bis central bankers ’ speeches

bills, building and safeguarding strong institutions and moving fast on fatf deficiencies. the fourth dimension is that kenya had to go to war to fight terrorism ; this is beyond financial risks but also national sovereignty. we need : ( a ) time to finalize all these interlinked issues. ( b ) capacity building support. ( c ) to adopt, replicate and build a strong frc and the best model in the world. bis central bankers ’ speeches and with these kenya will succeed. whilst the focus of this forum today will be to raise awareness and sensitize you on upcoming programs on issues surrounding aml / cft, allow me to briefly touch on a number of initiatives that have been undertaken by the central bank to address some of these issues. ladies and gentlemen ; the central bank of kenya is mandated to foster the financial integrity of the financial system in the country. the bank has continually enhanced the regulation and supervision of the financial system in order to improve the sector ’ s integrity. as part of our efforts in ensuring appropriate and effective oversight, the central bank first issued aml guidelines in 2000. these guidelines were revised in 2006 and are currently in the process of being reviewed to reflect the prevailing international best practice and to align them with the proceeds of crime and anti - money laundering act, 2009 ( pocamla ). over the last two years, the central bank has issued regular aml / cft guidelines to financial institutions to further support and enhance the implementation of pocamla. the guidance has covered various issues such as the operationalization of the aml act, suspicious transaction reporting and measures to be adopted by financial institutions to combat the financing of terrorism. the central bank has also revised the forex bureau guidelines so as to align these guidelines to pocamla. on the microfinance front, the microfinance regulations and the agency guidelines require deposit taking microfinance institutions and their agents to implement aml / cft measures. all these measures are aimed at ensuring the integrity of the financial sector. as you may be aware, kenya is now a leading light in financial inclusion. the systems and practices we have put in place to deepen financial inclusion are now considered as acceptable best practices and are being emulated by other jurisdictions. the challenge before us on this front is to maintain the delicate balance between financial inclusion and financial integrity. by putting in place the required measures to address money laundering and terrorism financing in the financial sector while at the same time deepening our financial