President William Ruto on Friday assented to the Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting of Terrorism Financing Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Climate Change (Amendment) Bill.
The signing of the Bills into law was done at State House Nairobi.
The Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting of Terrorism Financing Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was passed by the National Assembly on August 23.
It sought to amend at least 18 Acts of Parliament relating to anti-money laundering, countering the financing of terrorism and countering the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in addressing deficiencies identified during the Mutual Evaluation of Kenya.
Some of the amended Acts include; the Extradition (Contiguous and Foreign Countries) Act (Cap 76), Extradition (Commonwealth Countries) Act (Cap. 77), State Corporations Act (Cap. 446), Capital Markets Act (Cap. 485A), Insurance Act (Cap. 487), Banking Act (Cap. 488) and the Central Bank of Kenya Act (Cap. 491).
It also seeks to amend the Microfinance Act (No. 19 of 2006), Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act (No. 3 of 2003), Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2009 (No. 9 of 2009) and National Police Service Act, 2011 (No.11A of 2011).
Others are Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2011 (No. 22 of 2011), Mutual Legal Assistance Act, 2011 (No. 36 of 2011), National Payment Systems Act, 2011 (No. 39 of 2011), Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2011 (No. 42 of 2011), Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2012 (No. 30 of 2012), Law Society of Kenya Act, 2014 (No. 21 of 2014) and Companies Act, 2015 (No. 17 of 2015).
The Climate Change (Amendment) Bill was passed by the National Assembly on the same date and by the Senate on August 31, 2023.
The Bill had 17 clauses amending a variety of aspects of the Climate Change Act, 2016 to provide for the regulation of the carbon markets.
According to the Constitution, a Bill passed by Parliament and assented to by the President shall be published in the Gazette as an Act of Parliament within seven days after assent.
An Act of Parliament comes into force on the fourteenth day after its publication in the Gazette, unless the Act stipulates a different date on or time at which it will come into force.
Present at the ceremony were Speakers Moses Wetang'ula (National Assembly) and Amason Kingi (Senate) Clerks Samuel Njoroge (National Assembly) and Jeremiah Nyegenye (Senate).
Others were Attorney-General Justin Muturi, Majority Leaders Kimani Ichung'wah (National Assembly), Aaron Cheruiyot (Senate), and respective committee members.