Updated 12 November 2026
The official way to check a licensed forex bureau in Kenya is to search the Central Bank of Kenya’s foreign-exchange-bureau directory, not a shop-front sign or a social-media page. The file CBK was still publishing when checked on 12 November 2026 is the Directory of Licenced Foreign Exchange Bureaus as at September 30, 2026. The PDF is 11 pages and is marked “C2: CBK – Official”. Its metadata shows it was created on 8 October 2026. CBK also maintains a directory landing page under Bank Supervision. Later filenames for an October 2026 or November 2026 edition were not on the server when checked.
On a count of that official PDF, the list is numbered 1 to 96. This guide does not paste the names. Search the exact legal name. A later official directory would supersede the 30 September 2026 edition. A CMA-licensed online forex broker is not a CBK-licensed bureau merely because both use the word “forex”.
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In this guide
What a CBK forex-bureau licence is
On its Bank Supervision pages, checked on 12 November 2026, CBK keeps a distinct “directory of licensed foreign exchange bureaus”, alongside directories for commercial banks, microfinance banks, credit reference bureaus and digital credit providers. The bureau list is the public record of names CBK has included as licensed bureaux in that edition. Operating rules for those bureaux are a separate matter; we have already set those out in our guide to the rules forex bureaus must follow.
If you are changing cash or travellers’ cheques at a counter, the legal name on the premises and on your receipt should match a name on the official bureau list, or you should have a written explanation from CBK for why it does not. A rate board in a mall or an airport kiosk is not, by itself, a licence.
How to search for a licensed forex bureau in Kenya
Download the official list of a licensed forex bureau in Kenya — the 30 September 2026 PDF — from centralbank.go.ke rather than a republished copy. Open it in a reader and use search (Ctrl+F or Command+F) for the exact legal name on the shop sign, the receipt or the invoice. Try “Forex Bureau”, “Bureau De Change”, “Limited” and “Ltd” if the first search fails, then confirm with CBK rather than guessing. Some rows also print a former name in brackets; search both names, but treat the current legal name in the “Name of Bureau” column as the one that has to match your documents.
Each entry typically records a location, contact details (a postal address, telephone, email and, in some rows, a fax) and the date of licensing. Those fields help you match the institution. A location in one town and a postal address in another can appear in the same row; read the fields as printed. A telephone number or email in a September 2026 directory is not, by itself, proof that a later WhatsApp number or a new website belongs to the bureau.
The file we checked is 11 pages. It was created on 8 October 2026 and was still the edition posted on 12 November 2026. Use it as the current official list unless and until CBK replaces it with a later directory.
What the 96 entries include, and what they omit
The official PDF is numbered 1 to 96. That is the complete set of institutions in this edition of the directory of a licensed forex bureau in Kenya. This guide does not reproduce the 96 names and does not group them by town. The source for those details is the PDF itself. If the legal name you were given is not one of the 96, do not treat a similar trading name as a match.
The list also does not say whether a bureau is under any special supervisory measure, and it does not publish buying or selling rates. A name on the list is official evidence that CBK included that institution in the 30 September 2026 directory. It is not a finding that a particular agent, shop unit or social-media account belongs to the bureau, and it is not a rate quote.
If your receipt uses an older name, or a name you remember from a previous year, search the current PDF anyway. Directories are replaced from time to time. An institution that appeared in an earlier edition may or may not appear in this one. The 30 September 2026 file is the edition to use until CBK publishes a newer official list.
How this differs from a CMA forex broker
A CBK-licensed foreign exchange bureau changes currency over the counter. A Capital Markets Authority licence for an online forex broker is a different permission. We have already explained how to check a CMA-licensed forex broker. Finding a name on the CMA register does not put that firm on this 96-name CBK list, and a bureau on the CBK list is not, by that fact alone, authorised as an online broker.
The Bank Supervision pages also keep the bureau list separate from the commercial-bank and microfinance-bank directories. A bank may operate a currency desk under its own banking licence; that desk is not automatically a licensed bureau on this PDF. If you cannot find a licensed forex bureau in Kenya of that legal name on the 30 September 2026 list, ask CBK before you hand over cash.
Who to contact at CBK
The official contact page, checked on 12 November 2026, says communication to the Central Bank of Kenya should be addressed to Haile Selassie Avenue, P.O. Box 60000-00200, Nairobi, Kenya. Published numbers include +254 20 286 0000, +254 20 286 1000, +254 20 286 3000, +254 709 081 000 and +254 709 083 000. The page also lists comms@centralbank.go.ke.
When you write, include the exact legal name you were given, the location printed on the receipt or the shop sign, and the date you searched the 30 September 2026 directory. The official list answers a narrow question: is this name among the 96 institutions in the current Directory of Licenced Foreign Exchange Bureaus? It does not, on its own, set a rate or approve a transaction.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the official forex-bureau list?
On centralbank.go.ke, as a PDF titled Directory of Licenced Foreign Exchange Bureaus as at September 30, 2026, created on 8 October 2026 and still posted when checked on 12 November 2026. That file is the current official list of a licensed forex bureau in Kenya. Search that file. A later official directory would replace it.
How many licensed forex bureaus are on the list?
The official 30 September 2026 PDF is numbered 1 to 96. That count is for this edition of the directory of a licensed forex bureau in Kenya only.
Is a forex bureau the same as a CMA forex broker?
No. CBK licenses foreign exchange bureaus that change currency over the counter. The Capital Markets Authority licenses online forex brokers on a separate register.
Does this list include bank currency desks?
Not automatically. A commercial bank appears, if at all, in CBK’s commercial-bank directory. A bureau belongs on this 96-name file only if CBK included it in this edition.
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