Updated 12 November 2026
The official way to check a licensed stockbroker in Kenya is to search the Capital Markets Authority’s public licensees register, not a trading-group chat, a tip sheet or a social-media page. The Authority’s register, headed “LICENSEES/ MARKET PLAYERS” and still served on 12 November 2026 at licensees.cma.or.ke, has a separate “STOCKBROKERS” category at licensees.cma.or.ke/licenses/4/. That category page, checked the same day, is a table with four official columns: Name, Address, License Number and Website.
On a count of that official STOCKBROKERS table on 12 November 2026, there were 10 printed name-and-licence-number rows, covering 10 unique names and 10 unique licence numbers. This guide does not paste the names. Search the exact name and licence number. A later official register would supersede that count. A CMA-licensed investment bank, fund manager or forex broker is not a licensed stockbroker in Kenya merely because it appears in a different official category.
On this page
In this guide
What a CMA stockbroker licence is
The Capital Markets Authority is the official publisher of this register. The homepage, checked on 12 November 2026, lists stockbrokers as one category among the Authority’s licensees and market players, alongside investment banks, fund managers, investment advisers, authorised securities dealers and several other distinct headings. A firm can hold more than one type of CMA licence. Each category has to be checked on its own page.
The STOCKBROKERS page is not the investment-banks list and it is not a list of every app that lets you view share prices. Some groups have both an investment bank and a stockbroker. Those are different legal entities and different licences. If you are being asked to buy or sell listed shares, the official question is whether the intermediary you will actually use is on this stockbrokers table, or on the investment-banks table, under the name printed on your account documents.
How to search for a licensed stockbroker in Kenya
To check a licensed stockbroker in Kenya, ask for the firm’s exact licensed name and its CMA licence number, then open the official STOCKBROKERS category rather than a general web search.
On licensees.cma.or.ke/licenses/4/, the page provides a search box whose official placeholder, checked on 12 November 2026, is “Search by name or license number.” A GET search on that page returns the matching official row, with the same four columns as the full table. Use that search when you already have a name or a number. If you are browsing the whole category, the 12 November 2026 table loaded as a single page, so this guide does not invent a later page of names.
The register homepage search is narrower. Its official placeholder is “Search by category name.” A search there looks up the category headings, such as “STOCKBROKERS,” not an individual firm. Do not treat a blank homepage search for a company name as proof that the firm is unlicensed. Open the STOCKBROKERS category and search there.
Match the licensed name and the licence number to the documents you were given. The official table identifies a name and a number; it does not, by itself, prove that a mobile app, a WhatsApp tipster or a person at a seminar is acting for that firm.
What the November 2026 count includes, and what it omits
The count below is from the official STOCKBROKERS table as served on 12 November 2026, not from a media republication and not from a Business Radar tool. It is the current official snapshot of a licensed stockbroker in Kenya on that category page. This guide does not paste the names, addresses, licence numbers or websites.
There were 10 printed name-and-licence-number rows, covering 10 unique names and 10 unique licence numbers. The printed licence numbers on the page are not a continuous series; unused numbers are not a second official list. Unlike some other CMA categories counted the same day, this table had no repeated licence number and no blank licence-number cell.
The table does not print a licence-issue date, an expiry date or a status badge such as “active” or “suspended.” It also does not tell you which listed securities the firm may deal in, what commissions it charges, or whether a particular CDS or trading account is genuine. Those questions sit outside this headcount.
How this sits with buying shares on the NSE
Checking a licensed stockbroker in Kenya is one step in a share purchase, not the whole account-opening file. Follow the published steps in the guide to buying shares on the NSE, including the CDS account and the official intermediary you will actually use. Some investors open an account through an investment bank rather than a stockbroker; those are separate CMA categories on the same official register.
If the same group also offers an online trading account, read the firm’s official account documentation and, where relevant, a published account guide such as the NCBA online trading account walkthrough. Use those pages for the account steps; use the official STOCKBROKERS table for the name and licence number of a stockbroker.
What to do if the name is missing
If the name or licence number you were given does not appear in the STOCKBROKERS category, check that you used the licensed company name, not only a trading style or a parent-bank brand, and that you searched the stockbrokers page rather than the homepage category search. Then check whether the firm is instead listed as an investment bank, an authorised securities dealer, a fund manager or another CMA category. Those are different licences.
If it still does not appear, treat the official table as the current public list and ask the firm to show its CMA licence details in writing. The register answers a narrow question: is this name among the 10 official STOCKBROKERS rows counted on 12 November 2026, and what licence number is printed beside it? It does not, on its own, approve a trade or a share offer.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the official licensed-stockbroker list?
On the Capital Markets Authority licensees register. The STOCKBROKERS category, checked on 12 November 2026, is at licensees.cma.or.ke/licenses/4/. The register homepage at licensees.cma.or.ke lists that category among the Authority’s other licensees and market players.
How many licensed stockbrokers are on the register?
On a count of the official STOCKBROKERS table on 12 November 2026, there were 10 printed name-and-licence-number rows, covering 10 unique names and 10 unique licence numbers. That is the current official snapshot of a licensed stockbroker in Kenya on that page, not a later total.
Is a stockbroker licence the same as an investment-bank licence?
No. A licensed stockbroker in Kenya appears in the CMA STOCKBROKERS category. Investment banks appear in a separate category on the same official register. A group can have both kinds of entity; check the name you are actually contracting with.
What if the firm is not on the stockbrokers page?
Search the exact licensed name and licence number on the STOCKBROKERS category page, not only the homepage category search. If it still does not appear, check whether it is listed under a different CMA heading, such as investment banks, and ask the firm for its current official licence details. A later official register would supersede the 12 November 2026 count.
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