A high incidence in money laundering activity makes it difficult for monetary authorities to track currency movements.

FILE PHOTO \ NMG 

I gather that the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has issued a circular giving commercial banks six months to open and declare contents of all safe deposit boxes in their custody and on behalf of their customers.

We still remember the outrage in March last year when it emerged that criminal elements had concealed $20 million worth of fake currency notes in a safe deposit box kept in Barclays Bank of Kenya’s Queensway Branch.

With the directive that banks open all safe deposit boxes and declare their contents and in the context of the realisation that these boxes have been turned into vessels for money laundering, I see many banks following the example of Barclays by closing the service.

A high incidence in money laundering activity makes it difficult for monetary authorities to track currency movements.