Kenya: Triparty repo and collateral management eligibility for Kenyan government securities

Clearstream¹ informs clients that effective 

immediately

Kenyan government securities—including Government Bonds, Treasury Bills, and Infrastructure Bonds—are eligible for Clearstream’s triparty repo and collateral management services.

This service enhancement follows the successful launch on 29 June 2026 of Clearstream’s 60th domestic market link to Kenya for settlement and custody (see Announcement A26038) and represents the next step in Clearstream’s ongoing commitment to expanding market access and liquidity solutions for Clearstream clients.

Clients can now mobilise eligible Kenyan sovereign debt instruments within Clearstream’s collateral management ecosystem:

• Collateral eligibility: Eligible Kenyan debt securities can now be used in Securities Finance transactions and allocated within collateral baskets to support repo, securities lending, margining, and structured trades both for triparty and bilateral exposures.
• Liquidity optimisation: Enables market participants to optimise domestic and international collateral pools, enhancing balance-sheet efficiency and capital utilisation.
• Internal transferability: Enables seamless collateral mobilisation and exposure coverage across Clearstream accounts, without domestic market friction.

This service enhancement comes at a timely juncture following J.P. Morgan’s announcement to include Kenyan government bonds in its new frontier and emerging markets benchmark, the Government Bond Index – Emerging Markets Edge (GBI-EM Edge), scheduled to launch by end of September 2026.

Key index highlights:

• Weighting: Kenya has been assigned an index weighting of 6.91%, exceeding several peer frontier markets and reflecting the growing depth of Kenya’s domestic fixed-income market.
• Scope: The index tracks approximately USD 330 billion in local currency sovereign debt across 26 frontier and emerging markets.
• Market impact: Inclusion significantly elevates the visibility of Kenyan government debt among international institutional investors and is expected to drive further liquidity into the local sovereign bond market.

Clearstream’s collateral eligibility allows clients participating in this benchmark or taking positions in local debt to immediately maximise the utility of their holdings.

Summary of the Clearstream Kenya market link

As a reminder, Clearstream provides a streamlined, single-point access to the Kenyan domestic market:

Link model: Indirect link via Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Limited (SCB), acting as local custodian and cash correspondent bank (CCB), connecting to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) central securities depository (DhowCSD).

Eligible instruments:

• Government bonds issued by CBK;
• Treasury bills;
• Infrastructure bonds.

Investor eligibility: Open to both resident and non-resident investors with no local onboarding, registration, or dedicated local account requirements.

Settlement and foreign exchange (FX):

• Internal settlement: Available between Clearstream accounts against any eligible settlement currency.
• External settlement: Available against payment in Kenyan Shillings (KES).
• FX services: Available for KES to support funding and repatriation.
• Primary market: Full bid routing support for CBK primary government bond auctions.

Further information

Please refer to the Market Link Guide - Kenya for further details.

Clients may also contact Clearstream Client Services or their Relationship Officer.

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1. Clearstream refers collectively to Clearstream Banking S.A., registered office at 42, avenue John F. Kennedy, L-1855 Luxembourg, and registered with the Luxembourg Trade and Companies Register under number B-9248, and Clearstream Europe AG (for Clearstream Europe AG clients using 6-series accounts), registered office at 61, Mergenthalerallee, 65760 Eschborn, Germany and registered in Register B of the Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main, Germany under number HRB 7500. 
Clearstream Banking S.A. is registered as an Australian CS (Overseas) Facility, under subsection 824B(2) of the Corporations Act 2001, with registration number ARBN 675 244 783.