Wycliffe Shamiah has been appointed and confirmed as the Chief Executive Officer of the Capital Markets Authority (CMA). Shamiah has been in an acting capacity since the beginning of the year following the end of Paul Muthaura’s tenure.
According to CMA board chair, James Ndegwa, the cabinet secretary National Treasury and Planning approved Shamiah’s appointment. Shamiah has risen through the ranks at the regulator in a career spanning 23 years. Prior to his appointment, Shamiah was Director of market operations since 2011 and a representative of the Authority to the Financial Stability Board Regional Consultative Committee for Sub Saharan Africa.
He has held different positions in different departments, having joined as a research officer, promoted to senior research officer before being appointed senior financial analyst cum internal auditor. He was then promoted to the position of Assistant Manager, Compliance in 2001 before taking on the responsibilities of officer in charge of compliance from 2003 to 2005. He was then appointed Manager, Market Supervision in 2009 and became the pioneer Director of Market Operations in 2011.
He will be tasked with implementing the Strategic Plan 2018-2023, supporting regulations, and maintaining CMA’s reputation as a high performing public sector institution. Under Shamiah’s leadership, the authority has piloted the Securities Lending and Borrowing platform, allowed listed firms to hold virtual AGMs, and increased participants to the CMA sandbox such as Belrium Kenya and Pyypl Group Limited.