Press Release
CMA Chief Executive Appointed Chairman for Africa and Middle East Committee of Global Standard Setter
Nairobi 2 May 2018…..The Capital Market Authority (CMA) Kenya Chief Executive, Mr. Paul Muthaura, has been appointed Chairman of the Africa and Middle-East Regional Committee (AMERC) of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) for the term 2018-2020. This follows his various appointments to the prestigious IOSCO Board in different capacities since September 2014. IOSCO is the premiere reference point for securities regulation and standard setting for the global capital markets regulatory community.
With his election as the Regional Chairman, Mr. Muthaura also took up a seat on the Growth and Emerging Markets Steering Committee (GEMSC) which is charged with representing the interests of more than 75 percent of the membership of IOSCO covering the spectrum of the most developed emerging markets including the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) to frontier and nascent capital markets. The Africa Middle East Region includes a number of significant emerging capital markets including Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Kuwait, Dubai Financial Centre and Morocco. Mr. Muthaura takes over the chairmanship from the long serving Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria.
The AMERC Chair position strengthens Kenya’s voice on the global stage to inform policy and regulatory standards formulation and its impact on developing capital markets. The confidence and support shown by Mr. Muthaura’s election serves as a significant boost to Kenya's aspiration for Nairobi to become an International Financial Center in line with the ambitions of the Vision 2030 Economic Blueprint.
Mr. Muthaura stands out among the more progressive financial sector regulators in the African and Middle East Region for his key role in spearheading the implementation of the 10-year Capital Market Master Plan (2014-2023) which has seen a significant rise in Kenya’s level of financial sophistication and global competitiveness. He has further placed Kenya at the forefront of technological innovation through ongoing work on the establishment of a regulatory sandbox to support and oversight Financial Technology. In his current tenure as the Chief Executive of the CMA, Kenya has in three consecutive years won the Most Innovative Capital Markets Regulator in Africa award.
While accepting his appointment to this influential post, Mr. Muthaura noted that “With Africa and the Middle East representation to the IOSCO Board at an all-time high, AMERC has an unparalleled opportunity to influence and inform the work of IOSCO”.
“The tightly contested elections attracted an unprecedented level of high profile candidates, which is a strong validation of our regions shared perception of the importance of the work of IOSCO and AMERC and I very much look forward to partnering with my elected AMERC colleagues and the wider GEMC leadership and IOSCO Board to continue to lift the visibility and impact of IOSCO and AMERC within that wider context”, he added
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BACKROUND INFORMATION ON THE CAPITAL MARKETS AUTHORITY
The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) was set up in 1989 as a statutory agency under the Capital Markets Act Cap 485A. It is charged with the prime responsibility of both regulating and developing an orderly, fair and efficient capital markets in Kenya with the view to promoting market integrity and investor confidence.
The regulatory functions of the Authority as provided by the Act and the regulations include; Licensing and supervising all the capital market intermediaries; Ensuring compliance with the legal and regulatory framework by all market participants; Regulating public offers of securities, such as equities and bonds & the issuance of other capital market products such as collective investment schemes; Promoting market development through research on new products and services; Reviewing the legal framework to respond to market dynamics; Promoting investor education and public awareness; and Protecting investors’ interest. For more information, please contact: Antony Mwangi, Head of Corporate Communications on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
