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The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF)[1] through its Recommendation 24 on
transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons, calls on its
member states to take measures to prevent the misuse of legal persons
for money laundering or terrorist financing. It provides that countries
should ensure that there is adequate, accurate and timely information on
the beneficial ownership and control of legal persons.
Following
the initiative of FATF, countries like Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica,
France, Germany, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Pakistan, Singapore, South
Africa, Sweden and the United Kingdom (UK) have amended their laws to
provide for a beneficial ownership registry, including through their
company laws and anti-money laundering legislation.
Kenya is a member of FATF by virtue of its
membership to the Eastern and Southern African Anti-Money Laundering
Group (ESAAMLG), an associate member of the FATF, whose main purpose is
to combat money laundering and terrorism in the region by implementing
the FAFT recommendations.
The Companies Act, 2015 (“the Act”)
has now been amended by the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2017, in what
can be surmised as an attempt to promote transparency in the ownership
of companies in Kenya.
The Act now includes a definition of a beneficial owner, being “ the
natural person who ultimately owns or controls a legal person or
arrangements or the natural person on whose behalf a transaction is
conducted, and includes those persons who exercise ultimate effective
control over a legal person or arrangement”.
At section 93, the Act now requires that every
company keep a register of its members which shall include information
relating to the beneficial owners of the company and must be lodged with
the Registrar of Companies within 30 days after its preparation, and
within 14 days in case of amendment(s). The time requirement in case of
amendment(s) does not apply to public companies.
The penalty on conviction for failure of the
company to comply with the section is a fine not exceeding Kshs.
500,000/- payable by the company and each officer of the company in
default, and a further Kshs. 50,000/- for every day that the offence
continues.
In support of the new statutory requirement, the Registrar of Companies has prepared draft “The Registrar of Companies (Forms) Rules, 2017”
which provides the forms to be used as notification to the Registrar of
the beneficial ownership. The relevant form, BOF 1, requires that a
company must indicate the name, postal address, ID/Passport details,
nationality, date of birth, telephone number, and email address of the
beneficial owner. Most importantly, the form requires that the company
disclose the nature of control the beneficial owner has in the company.
Currently, the abovementioned rules have been
circulated to the public with the Registrar calling for comments before
the final versions are published; they are however, a sign of what is
likely to come.
The new provisions will make it easier for
authorities and the public to identify the actual owners of companies
especially those with complex ownership structures. On the other hand,
the provisions are likely to be a nightmare to companies and their
shareholders as they seek to comply. Entities that need to begin
thinking through compliance include private equity (PE) firms.
PE investment structures will be affected by this
statutory requirement, as they are now required as shareholders in
various Kenyan investee companies to disclose their beneficial owners.
Three aspects of a PE investment cycle [1] are relevant:
- Setting up of a fund: A fund
is a collective investment scheme set up by a PE firm to allow it to
raise funds and make certain equity investments. A PE firm can run more
than one fund at the same time and funds can be registered either as
separate limited liability partnerships (LLP) or as private companies
limited by shares with a fixed term. - Raising capital: Following the
setting up of the fund, is the raising of capital. PE firms often raise
funds from institutions, pension schemes, banks, insurance companies and
individuals who in most instances have no control over the management
of the funds following their commitment. Typically where the investing
entity is structured as an LLP, there is a distinction between the
partner with an active role in the management of the fund (general
partner) and other partners who only invest (limited partners). - Investing: Typically, a fund acquires an equity stake in a company. The fund thus appears in the company’s list of shareholders.
In light of the above, questions arise as to
who the beneficial owners of a fund are given that the statutory
definition includes natural persons either owning or controlling the
fund. This may include the investment management firm, shareholders and
fund investors. Where it is a partnership, does this extend to both
the general partner and the limited partners? This may depend on how the
partnership arrangements address issues of control and ownership
between the partners. In relation to the fund investors, is the
expectation that the natural persons behind say a pension scheme (the
pensioners) be disclosed? Where does one stop in identifying the natural
person who ultimately owns or controls a legal person?
In our opinion, Kenya can use UK law as a guide in
formulating regulation to answer the questions above. The UK equivalent
to Kenya’s beneficial ownership disclosure obligation is provided for
in Part 21A read together with Schedule 1A of the UK Companies Act,
2006.
In the UK, a company duty is bound to investigate,
identify and confirm natural persons with significant control over the
company and thereafter enter the details of such person in the register
of persons with significant control.
Unlike Kenya, whose provisions on beneficial
ownership are open-ended and not limited to control, the UK’s Companies
Act, 2006 stipulates conditions at Schedule 1A that natural persons must
meet before they should be disclosed as persons with significant
control over the company. Under Schedule 1A, the person must directly or
indirectly hold more than 25% of the shares in company; or directly or
indirectly hold more than 25% of the voting rights in company; or
directly or indirectly hold a right to appoint or remove a majority of
the board of directors of company; or has the right to exercise, or
actually exercises significant influence or control over company.
The UK approach indicates that further refining of
the beneficial owner disclosure obligation in the Kenyan Companies Act,
2015 may be needed for it to be a practical, clear and less onerous
aspect of our law.
[1] Gatobu
E. Mwirigi (2014): ‘Role of Private Equity in the Emerging Markets to
the Economy: Case Study of Kenya’, University of Nairobi.
If you need more information, please contact Suzanne Muthaura, Partner or Lynnette Wanyonyi, Junior Associate
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