Updated 12 November 2026
The official way to check a CMA approved institution in Kenya is to search the Capital Markets Authority’s public licensees register, not a market commentary 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 “APPROVED INSTITUTIONS” category at licensees.cma.or.ke/licenses/1/. 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 APPROVED INSTITUTIONS table on 12 November 2026, there were 9 printed name rows, covering 9 unique names. On this page the “License Number” column does not print numeric licence numbers. It prints official type labels. This guide does not paste the names. Search the exact name and the type label printed beside it. A later official register would supersede that count. A CMA-licensed stockbroker, investment bank or fund manager is not a CMA approved institution in Kenya merely because it appears in a different official category.
On this page
In this guide
What a CMA approved institution is
The Capital Markets Authority is the official publisher of this register. The homepage, checked on 12 November 2026, lists approved institutions as one category among the Authority’s licensees and market players, alongside stockbrokers, investment banks, fund managers, authorised depositories and several other distinct headings. Each category has to be checked on its own page.
This approved-institutions table is not a list of every firm that deals in securities. It is a short official category of market institutions. The type labels printed in the official “License Number” column on 12 November 2026 were: “Securities Exchange”; “Derivatives Exchange”; “Central Depository”; “Credit Rating Agency”; and “Over The Counter Securities Exchange and Self-Regu”. The last of those labels is quoted as the official page printed it, including the truncated ending. This guide does not complete or correct that official wording.
How to search for a CMA approved institution in Kenya
To check a CMA approved institution in Kenya, ask for the institution’s exact official name and the type it claims, then open the official APPROVED INSTITUTIONS category rather than a general web search.
On licensees.cma.or.ke/licenses/1/, 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. 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 “APPROVED INSTITUTIONS,” not an individual institution. Do not treat a blank homepage search for a name as proof that it is not approved. Open the APPROVED INSTITUTIONS category and search there.
Match the official name and the printed type label to the documents you were given. The official table identifies a name and a type; it does not, by itself, prove that a particular security is listed, deposited or rated by that institution today.
What the November 2026 count includes, and what it omits
The count below is from the official APPROVED INSTITUTIONS 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 CMA approved institution in Kenya on that category page. This guide does not paste the names, addresses or websites.
There were 9 printed name rows, covering 9 unique names. Five of those rows carry the official type label “Credit Rating Agency.” The other four rows each carry a different type label, listed above as the official page printed them. Because this category does not print numeric licence numbers, this guide does not invent any.
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 list the securities traded, deposited or rated, or the fees charged. Those questions sit outside this headcount.
How this sits with buying shares and other licences
Checking a CMA approved institution in Kenya is one market-structure check, not the whole investing file. If you want to buy or sell listed shares, follow the published guide to buying shares on the NSE, including the CDS account and the official intermediary you will actually use. For real-estate investment trusts, use the published REITs in Kenya guide and the official REIT-manager and REIT-trustee categories.
Use those pages for the product and the dealing steps. Use the official APPROVED INSTITUTIONS table for the name and the official type label of a market institution.
What to do if the name is missing
If the name you were given does not appear in the APPROVED INSTITUTIONS category, check that you used the official institution name, not only a trading venue nickname, and that you searched the approved-institutions page rather than the homepage category search. Then check whether the name is instead listed as a stockbroker, an investment bank, an authorised depository or another CMA category. Those are different official headings.
If it still does not appear, treat the official table as the current public list and ask the institution to show its current official CMA approval details in writing. The register answers a narrow question: is this name among the 9 official APPROVED INSTITUTIONS rows counted on 12 November 2026, and what type label is printed beside it? It does not, on its own, approve a trade, a listing or a credit rating.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the official CMA approved-institution list?
On the Capital Markets Authority licensees register. The APPROVED INSTITUTIONS category, checked on 12 November 2026, is at licensees.cma.or.ke/licenses/1/. The register homepage at licensees.cma.or.ke lists that category among the Authority’s other licensees and market players.
How many CMA approved institutions are on the register?
On a count of the official APPROVED INSTITUTIONS table on 12 November 2026, there were 9 printed name rows, covering 9 unique names. That is the current official snapshot of a CMA approved institution in Kenya on that page, not a later total. Five of the rows are labelled “Credit Rating Agency.”
Does this page print licence numbers?
Not numeric ones, on the table checked on 12 November 2026. The official “License Number” column on this category prints type labels, such as “Securities Exchange,” “Central Depository” and “Credit Rating Agency.” One label is printed as “Over The Counter Securities Exchange and Self-Regu.” This guide quotes that truncated official wording and does not complete it.
What if the institution is not on the approved-institutions page?
Search the exact official name on the APPROVED INSTITUTIONS category page, not only the homepage category search. If it still does not appear, check whether it is listed under a different CMA heading, and ask for the current official approval details. A later official register would supersede the 12 November 2026 count.
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