IMF Urges Kenya to Legislate Travel Rule, Mandating Crypto Firms to Share Customer Identity Information

Odaily reports that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged Kenya to expedite the passage of the Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) Regulations or other appropriate legal instruments to implement the Travel Rule, requiring virtual asset service providers to collect, verify, and share identity information of senders and recipients in crypto transfers, with relevant data to be shared among service providers and with Kenya's Financial Reporting Centre (FRC). The IMF noted that Kenya still has significant gaps in crypto asset transfer information exchange related to Financial Action Task Force (FATF) requirements. Kenya has been on the FATF grey list for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing since February 2024.