Updated 12 November 2026
The official way to check an authorised depository in Kenya is to search the Capital Markets Authority’s public licensees register, not a bank brochure or a fund fact sheet alone. The Authority’s register, headed “LICENSEES/ MARKET PLAYERS” and still served on 12 November 2026 at licensees.cma.or.ke, has a separate “AUTHORISED DEPOSITORIES” category at licensees.cma.or.ke/licenses/10/. 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 AUTHORISED DEPOSITORIES table on 12 November 2026, there were 21 printed name-and-licence-number rows, covering 21 unique names and 21 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 CBK-licensed commercial bank, a CMA-licensed fund manager or the central depository listed under approved institutions is not an authorised depository in Kenya merely because it appears in a different official category.
On this page
In this guide
What a CMA authorised-depository licence is
The Capital Markets Authority is the official publisher of this register. The homepage, checked on 12 November 2026, lists authorised depositories as one category among the Authority’s licensees and market players, alongside approved institutions, fund managers, investment banks, stockbrokers and several other distinct headings. A firm can hold more than one type of licence. Each CMA category has to be checked on its own page.
This category is not the same as the “APPROVED INSTITUTIONS” list on the same register, which, on the same day, included the Central Depository and Settlement Corporation Limited as a named approved institution. An authorised depository is a separate official heading. Many of the names on the authorised-depositories table are banks, but a Central Bank of Kenya banking licence is not, by itself, a CMA authorised-depository licence. Check the CMA table for the depository role, and the CBK directory for the banking licence.
How to search for an authorised depository in Kenya
To check an authorised depository in Kenya, ask for the firm’s exact licensed name and its CMA licence number, then open the official AUTHORISED DEPOSITORIES category rather than a general web search.
On licensees.cma.or.ke/licenses/10/, 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 “AUTHORISED DEPOSITORIES,” not an individual firm. Do not treat a blank homepage search for a company name as proof that the firm is unlicensed. Open the AUTHORISED DEPOSITORIES category and search there.
Match the licensed name and the licence number to the scheme documents or custody letters you were given. The official table identifies a name and a number; it does not, by itself, prove that a particular fund, CDS account or certificate is held with that depository today.
What the November 2026 count includes, and what it omits
The count below is from the official AUTHORISED DEPOSITORIES 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 an authorised depository in Kenya on that category page. This guide does not paste the names, addresses, licence numbers or websites.
There were 21 printed name-and-licence-number rows, covering 21 unique names and 21 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 list the funds or clients for which the depository acts, or the fees it charges. Those questions sit outside this headcount.
How this sits with funds, shares and a bank licence
Checking an authorised depository in Kenya is one step in understanding who holds assets, not the whole investment check. If you are putting money into a money market fund or another unit trust, also confirm that the fund manager and the scheme itself are on their own official CMA categories, and read the published guide to what fund managers in Kenya are not allowed to do with your money, which includes the rule that fund assets are held separately. If you are buying listed shares, follow the guide to buying shares on the NSE.
Use those pages for the product, the conduct rules and the share-dealing steps. Use the official AUTHORISED DEPOSITORIES table for the name and licence number of the depository printed on your documents.
What to do if the name is missing
If the name or licence number you were given does not appear in the AUTHORISED DEPOSITORIES category, check that you used the licensed company name, not only a parent-bank brand, and that you searched the authorised-depositories page rather than the homepage category search. Then check whether the name is instead listed under approved institutions, fund managers, corporate trustees or another CMA category. Those are different headings.
If it still does not appear, treat the official table as the current public list and ask the firm, or the fund manager who named it, to show the current official licence details in writing. The register answers a narrow question: is this name among the 21 official AUTHORISED DEPOSITORIES rows counted on 12 November 2026, and what licence number is printed beside it? It does not, on its own, prove that your assets are held there today.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the official authorised-depository list?
On the Capital Markets Authority licensees register. The AUTHORISED DEPOSITORIES category, checked on 12 November 2026, is at licensees.cma.or.ke/licenses/10/. The register homepage at licensees.cma.or.ke lists that category among the Authority’s other licensees and market players.
How many authorised depositories are on the register?
On a count of the official AUTHORISED DEPOSITORIES table on 12 November 2026, there were 21 printed name-and-licence-number rows, covering 21 unique names and 21 unique licence numbers. That is the current official snapshot of an authorised depository in Kenya on that page, not a later total.
Is an authorised depository the same as the central depository?
Not on the official headings. The AUTHORISED DEPOSITORIES category is a list of its own. The Central Depository and Settlement Corporation Limited appeared, on the same day, under the separate APPROVED INSTITUTIONS category. Check the heading that matches the role you were told about.
What if the firm is not on the authorised-depositories page?
Search the exact licensed name and licence number on the AUTHORISED DEPOSITORIES 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 licence details. A later official register would supersede the 12 November 2026 count.
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