Proposed regulator will not infringe on central bank, Rotich says

Cabinet Secretary Treasury Henry Rotich (PHOTO: FILE)

NAIROBI, KENYA: Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich said a proposed financial-markets regulator will not infringe on the mandate of the country’s central bank, which has complained the new agency would leave it “emasculated”.

The bill proposing the agency aims to deal with predatory lending, Finance Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich said on Thursday, and the Treasury will take into account the views of the central bank before the draft law is presented to parliament.

“There is no overlap, duplication or contradiction whatsoever,” Rotich told a news conference. The Financial Markets Conduct bill, published in May by the finance ministry, proposes to create a regulator in addition to the central bank to deal with the conduct of lenders.

The central bank has criticized the bill. Last month, Governor Patrick Njoroge said the bank would be emasculated if the draft bill becomes law.

“The bill emasculates the central bank, (which) ... is under attack,” Njoroge told a news conference. It would also leave customers at the mercy of banks by curbing the central bank’s ability to regulate fees and charges, he said.