Central Bank of Kenya hires four for VASP oversight team

The Central Bank of Kenya has opened recruitment for four positions to establish its first dedicated team to license and supervise virtual asset service providers under the 2025 Virtual Asset Service Providers Act. The vacancies are in the bank’s Digital Payment Services Division and applications close May 18.

The bank advertised a manager to lead the licensing function, two deputy managers and a senior business analyst. One deputy manager will cover licensing and product approval; the other will cover compliance oversight. The senior business analyst will support application review and provide regulatory guidance to applicants.

The manager will review licensing applications, recommend approvals or rejections and develop standard operating procedures for the new regime. Deputies will assess product filings, carry out risk-based supervision of licensed providers and enforce licensing conditions. Responsibilities listed for the team include anti-money laundering and counter‑terrorism financing checks, cybersecurity assessments and processing of applications.

All four roles require experience in payments, banking, financial services or law. The senior positions specify expertise in anti-money laundering, counter‑terrorism financing and international standards for virtual asset service providers.

Kenya’s parliament passed the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act in October 2025. The National Treasury drafted subordinate regulations in March and opened them for public comment until April 10; those regulations have not yet been gazetted.

The draft regulations propose a 13-member interagency coordination committee that would include the Central Bank of Kenya, the Capital Markets Authority, the Financial Reporting Centre and the National Computer and Cybercrimes Coordination Committee. The committee would coordinate oversight where virtual asset activities cross institutional mandates.

The VASP regime will apply to virtual assets used for payments. Crypto-linked remittances and integrations between virtual asset platforms and mobile money services have increased in recent years. The CBK posted the vacancies as part of efforts to implement licensing, compliance and AML checks ahead of formal gazettement of the subordinate regulations.