The National Assembly's Public Petitions Committee met the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Capital Markets Authority (CMA) Mr. Wyckliffe Shamiah to discuss the role of the institution on the potential loss of investments in the Cytonn High Yield Solutions Platform.

The National Assembly's Public Petitions Committee is considering a petition by Hon. Sam Atandi (Alego Usonga) to probe the company over the loss of investors funds. The petitioners claimed that Cytonn Investments had been trying to sell off its properties and they were afraid the company might dissolve and as a result they would lose their money.

During his presentation,  Mr. Shamiah said that Cytonn Investment Management PLC is not regulated by the CMA while Cytonn Asset Managers Limited is. "We are trying to protect Kenyans, we realized Cytonn was giving advisory services without having a license from the CMA  and that's when we engaged Cytonn to find out why," Mr. Shamiah said.

Mr. Shamiah noted that the CMA had established a roadmap with Cytonn for the regulation of their Real Estate Investment Trust products, but Cytonn failed to comply with the regulations. He added that the CMA  had identified discrepancies on how Cytonn had raised funds and at the same time cautioned the public.

The Committee questioned the effectiveness of the CMA's legal framework in protecting Kenyans from unscrupulous individuals in the market. About 4,000 investors are reportedly owed Kshs. 14 billion by the two Funds but have not been refunded.

The session was chaired by Hon. Walter Owino (Awendo).