CMA Board Chairman's six-year stint ends

The Capital Markets Authority(CMA) Chairman James Ndegwa has left the regulatory state agency. 

This follows the expiry of his two terms of three years as Board Chairman of the Authority, which came to an end on 28th March 2021.

Ndegwa, a wealthy businessman, was first appointed to head the CMA Board of Directors in April 2015. He was subsequently reappointed on March 28, 2018,

for another three years.

An insurer by profession, Ndegwa holds a BA (Hons) and an MA degree from Oxford University. He is an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute (UK) and an Associate of the Insurance Institute of Kenya. 

He is the Chairman of First Chartered Securities Limited and a director of several companies. 

Prior to his appointment as CMA Board Chairman, Ndegwa was the Managing Director of Lion of Kenya Insurance Company Limited until 2003.

The Board of Directors of the Authority, consisting of the Chairman, are appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Cabinet Secretary of the National Treasury. 

This Board includes the Principal Secretary of the National Treasury, Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya and the Attorney General.

The Board Chairman and the six members are persons, who have experience and expertise in legal, financial, banking, accounting, economics or insurance matters, serve for a period of three years and are eligible for re-appointment for another three years. 

Ndegwa's reign at CMA has been a mixed bag including a legal challenge to his reappointment as Board Chairman to an Initial Public Offer(IPO) drought that has persisted, delisting of several firms and subdued performance at the Nairobi Securities Exchange(NSE)

“This is my last week as the chairman of the authority’s board. It has been a great honour to serve in this position for two terms and to work with all the various stakeholders in the capital markets industry, our peer regulators, my colleagues on the board and the highly committed team at the authority,” said Ndegwa in his farewell speech.

 Ndegwa, son of former Central Bank of Kenya governor Phillip Ndegwa, and his brother Andrew Ndegwa run a multibillion business empire including First Chartered Securities Ltd and ICEA Asset Management Ltd, NCBA Group and Unga Group spanning banking, milling, insurance and real estate.

Ndegwa is the chairman of First Chartered Securities — the holding company for many of the firms associated with the late Philip Ndegwa family — and a director of several companies which he regulates.

His signature at the Authority remains overseeing the merger of NIC Group and Commercial Bank of Africa to create the country's 4th largest lender by balance sheet size.

While at the helm, CMA pushed for the launch of new products including Real Estate Investment Trusts, Asset-Backed Securities, Exchange-traded fund, Derivatives markets, Online forex trading, Commodities market and Green bonds.