Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority has warned the public against 15 entities it says are offering investment services without the required licences or approvals and unlawfully soliciting money from investors. The regulator said the entities are now subject to active investigations involving the DCI, the CMA and other law-enforcement agencies.
The warning adds to growing regulatory scrutiny of online investment platforms offering exposure to cryptocurrency, forex trading and other financial products while operating outside established licensing frameworks.
Key Overview
The 15 entities named are Global Investment Group (GIG), QVSE, Kore Exchange, Abacus Wealth Management, Brown Advisory Group, B Invest, Bitblock Capital Limited, Maliwave Investments, Monetrix Capital Investments, Twenty-four Hours Pro Expert Trader, Wealth Sharing Group (Opticoin), CBEX, Just Markets, Ultima Cryptocurrency and Lukman-trust fund.
The CMA urged affected investors and members of the public with information to cooperate with investigators and report cases to their nearest DCI office. Investors can also independently check whether a provider is approved before transferring money.
CMA Escalates Scrutiny of Unlicensed Platforms
The regulator’s September warning marks one of the clearest recent actions against investment businesses operating without authorisation in Kenya. CMA’s mandate includes licensing and supervising capital-market intermediaries, including investment advisers, fund managers, stockbrokers and regulated online foreign-exchange businesses.
Its official licensee database allows investors to search approved firms across categories including fund managers, investment advisers, online forex brokers, authorised securities dealers and collective investment schemes.
That distinction matters because a company registration, website, app or overseas licence does not automatically give an entity permission to offer regulated investment services in Kenya.
QVSE Had Already Reached Parliament
QVSE and Global Investment Group were under scrutiny before the September warning. On August 12, Matungulu MP Stephen Mule asked the National Assembly to clarify the entities’ legal and regulatory status, ownership, directors and local representatives.
He also asked whether authorities had investigated allegations that the platform operated as an unlawful investment or pyramid scheme and what measures existed to protect affected investors.
Parliamentary reporting at the time said QVSE was allegedly targeting ordinary Kenyans with a minimum investment of around KSh65,000 while promoting fixed daily returns. Those claims were presented to Parliament as matters requiring investigation rather than established findings.
Ghana Had Already Flagged QVSE and Ultima
Kenya is not the first African market where QVSE has attracted regulatory attention. On July 22, 2026, Ghana’s securities regulator published a list of 23 unlicensed entities offering capital-market products without authorisation.
Quant Vest Stock Exchange, or QVSE, appeared on that list alongside Ultima Cryptocurrency Group. The regulator said none of the named entities had been licensed to conduct capital-market activities and urged the public to avoid investing through them.
That earlier warning illustrates how some online investment businesses can market across national borders faster than regulators can coordinate enforcement responses.
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CBEX Has Faced Repeated Nigerian Warnings
CBEX also arrived on Kenya’s September list with a substantial regulatory history elsewhere. Nigeria’s securities regulator warned in April 2025 that Crypto Bridge Exchange and its affiliates were not registered to operate a digital-asset exchange, solicit investments or perform other capital-market functions.
Its preliminary investigation cited promises of implausibly high guaranteed returns, unpaid withdrawal requests and the closure of physical offices. A second warning in June 2025 said CBEX had reportedly resumed operations and was demanding additional payments from subscribers before withdrawals could be processed.
The repeated action in Nigeria provides additional context for Kenyan investors now seeing CBEX named in the CMA investigation.
Lukman Trust Fund Raises a Direct Licensing Question
The inclusion of Lukman-trust fund is particularly notable because the website using that name currently states that it is regulated by the CMA and presents itself as an investment-management provider.
That claim sits in direct tension with the September warning naming “Lukman-trust fund” among entities operating without the requisite licensing or approval. Investors therefore have a strong reason to verify such claims directly against the CMA’s own register rather than relying on statements displayed on an investment platform’s website.
What Kenyan Investors Should Check Before Investing
The latest warning reinforces several practical checks. Investors should confirm that the exact legal entity receiving their money appears in the regulator’s official records, verify what type of licence it holds and ensure that licence covers the service being marketed.
Promises of fixed or unusually high returns, pressure to recruit others, demands for additional payments before withdrawals and unclear explanations of where funds are held should all trigger further scrutiny.
For investors who have already transferred money to one of the named entities, the CMA has asked affected persons to cooperate with the continuing investigations. The outcome of those investigations will determine what enforcement or recovery steps may follow.
Sources: Capital Markets Authority Kenya / Parliament of Kenya / Securities and Exchange Commission Ghana / Securities and Exchange Commission Nigeria / The Kenyan Wall Street / Business Daily / People Daily / Mzalendo
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