Saccos can now share their members information with the CRBs following the recent Court of Appeal ruling suspending a declaration by the High Court nullifying the Banking (Credit Reference Bureau) Regulations 2020 for non-compliance with section 11 of the Statutory Instruments Act 2013.

The Court of Appeal justices Asike Makhandia, Mumbi Ngugi, and Mwaniki Gachoka declared the ruling  suspended  awaiting the hearing and determination of the appeal filed by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).

CBK argued that an invalidation of the CRB Regulations 2020 hindered the discharge of its constitutional mandate under Article 231(1) of the Constitution as read with section 31(3)(b) of the Banking Act, which requires it to maintain a stable and efficient banking and financial system in Kenya. It further contended that there is now a lacuna in the law, particularly in respect of three areas, which necessitated the review of the CRB Regulations 2013 namely: minimum threshold for negative credit sharing information submitted to Credit Reference Bureaus (“CRBs”) in Kenya; granting of CRB clearance to first time job applicants seeking employment in public and private entities; onboarding of other financial services sector players including SACCOS regulated by the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA) into the Credit Information Sharing framework.

As per the 2020 regulations, Saccos were allowed to submit borrowers’ information to CRBs and receive credit reports directly. CBK introduced the new regulations to streamline the sector and protect Kenyans from predatory lenders. Following the suspension  of this  ruling, Kenyans listed for owing less than Ksh1,000 will not be blacklisted per the Credit Reference Bureau Regulations 2020. Should you require any further information, do contact us on info@cfllegal.com .