Before You Transfer Money: How to Check a Company Is Licensed in Kuwait

An investment offer with a tempting return, an exchange house you have never heard of, a payment app that wants your card details. Before you send a single dinar, you can find out in a few minutes whether the firm is licensed, because Kuwait’s two financial regulators publish their registers online.

1. Work out who regulates the activity

• Banks, finance companies, investment companies, exchange houses and e-payment firms are supervised by the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK).
• Share dealing, trading platforms, portfolio management and investment funds, in other words securities activity, fall under the Capital Markets Authority (CMA).

2. Search the CBK register

1. Go to cbk.gov.kw and, under the Supervision menu, open Regulated Entities.
2. Pick the category: Kuwaiti banks (conventional, Islamic, specialised), foreign banks, finance companies, investment companies, exchange companies, credit information companies, or e-payment and e-money service providers.
3. Each entry lists the firm’s name, address and phone number. Match the full name, then the address and number, against what you were given. A similar name is not enough.

3. Search the CMA lists

1. Go to cma.gov.kw and open the list of licensed companies, which shows each firm and the activities it is licensed for. The licensed funds list sits in the same section.
2. Then open the list of unlicensed local and GCC entities: firms the CMA has found offering securities services without a licence.
3. The CMA itself says that list does not cover every unlicensed operator, so a name missing from it proves nothing. The licensed list is the one that counts.

4. Ask before you pay

• To check whether a deal or financial transaction is legitimate, or to report unlicensed activity, call the CBK on 22972999 or email [email protected].
• Received a suspicious email in the Central Bank’s name? Forward it to [email protected].
• The CBK warns about people posing as its staff or representatives, so don’t deal with anyone who contacts you claiming to be from the Central Bank until you have checked.
• A complaint against a licensed bank or company goes through a different route: the CBK’s customer protection line, 1864444.

Photo: The Central Bank of Kuwait building. Photograph by SamyrTotto, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Source: Central Bank of Kuwait, “Scam and Frauds” and “Regulated Entities” pages; Capital Markets Authority, “Licensed Companies” and “Unlicensed Local and GCC Entities” pages, consulted 8 October 2026.