 In 2020 alone, 384.3 billion shillings was laundered through the Kenyan economy. These illicit financial flows are caused by corruption, illegally exploiting Kenya's natural resources, trade misinvoicing and tax evasion of multinational companies. A world-bunked study on corruption showed that the most common method to hide ill-gotten wealth was through the use of companies whose owners are unknown. Criminals use anonymous companies to hide their money, mask their identity and transfer their proceeds out of the country. To address this, the African Union and United Nations recommended that African countries create beneficial ownership registries to stop this exodus of money. What is beneficial ownership? It is identifying the real individuals that own and control the company. Why is beneficial ownership transparency important for Kenya? Beneficial ownership transparency is a key deterrent to corruption, tax evasion and money laundering. If you consider some of the major corruption cases that we have witnessed in Kenya, such as the 10.5 billion shilling National Youth Service scandal in 2015, you'll find that criminals took advantage of lack of transparency in beneficial ownership and hid their identities behind companies and legal entities. Does Kenya have a law on beneficial ownership? In 2017, Kenya passed laws requiring companies to disclose the identity of the individuals that truly own and control them. By the 31st of July, all companies have to submit beneficial ownership information. Companies that fail to do this risk a fine of 500,000 Kenya shillings. This law will provide Kenya with resources needed to tackle illicit financial flows and aid in asset recovery. But many loopholes still exist. The current laws are not enforced against trusts and foreign companies. Neither is this information accessible to the public and the registrar of companies does not check whether the information provided is truthful. These shortcomings should be rectified. Only through strong beneficial ownership laws can we prevent companies from abusing the financial system in Kenya.