The year 2014 began on a high note for Kenya’s Credit Information Sharing (CIS) mechanism, with the publication of the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) Regulations 2013. The new Regulations opened a new chapter in the CIS mechanism by among others, allowing both commercial banks and microfinance banks (previously known as Deposit-Taking Microfinance Institutions – DTMs) to share information on their good and bad borrowers, away from the traditional approach of sharing information on defaulters only amongst commercial banks. Other provisions included the reduction of data retention rules from seven to five years, issuance of pre-llisting notices to borrowers before they …