I&M Bank Partners with ThetaRay to Deploy Full Cognitive AI Financial Crime Compliance Platform Across East Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 25, 2025--

ThetaRay, a global leader in Cognitive AI financial crime compliance, today announced a landmark partnership with I&M Group PLC, a leading Regional Financial Services Group in Africa. The partnership will see the deployment of ThetaRay’s advanced AML (Anti-Money Laundering) platform across I&M Group’s operations in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, and Mauritius.

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This implementation spans the entire compliance lifecycle, from onboarding and sanctions screening to dynamic customer risk assessment, transaction monitoring, alerting, investigations, and regulatory reporting. Consolidating multiple processes into a single unified system will allow I&M Group to move beyond fragmented and manual compliance operations, to a centralized, AI-powered framework capable of scaling across multiple jurisdictions and business lines.

Commenting on the partnership, Jamie Loden, I&M Bank Chief Operating Officer, stated: “ThetaRay distinguishes itself as a genuine AI-driven solution, setting a new standard for managing financial crime risk. Its sophisticated technology brings together disparate compliance tasks into one streamlined system, empowering our teams to achieve greater accuracy and respond rapidly to AML threats."

The partnership underscores I&M Group’s strategic commitment to building a next-generation compliance infrastructure that supports both regulatory resilience and scalable regional expansion. “As East Africa’s regulatory landscape rapidly evolves, with central banks emphasizing intelligence-led oversight and digital reporting, this collaboration with ThetaRay positions I&M at the forefront of proactive risk governance,” noted Zipporah Gitau, Group Chief Risk and Compliance Officer at I&M Group. “By transforming how we detect, assess, and report financial crime, we are building a dynamic compliance foundation that not only meets today’s regulatory demands but powers our growth across the region.”

ThetaRay’s platform will replace siloed legacy systems with a single, holistic compliance architecture. The rollout will cover key use cases including retail and corporate banking, trade finance, investment banking, capital markets, remittance, and e-wallet services. It incorporates ThetaRay’s latest innovations, such as the Generative AI Risk Catalog, enabling compliance teams with a smarter, faster way to manage evolving regulatory and operational risk. Pre-configured and continuously updated, it enables institutions to deploy relevant, explainable and regulator-aligned risk typologies at scale.

Peter Reynolds, CEO of ThetaRay, said : "This proactive move by I&M Group reflects a strong commitment to operational excellence and regulatory agility. By adopting ThetaRay’s full-stack platform, I&M Group is setting a new benchmark in East Africa, proving that AI-first compliance can be both a shield against financial crime and a catalyst for growth. This is a model for how forward-thinking banks can stay resilient and build trust in the face of emerging risks."

About ThetaRay

ThetaRay harnesses the power of Cognitive AI for financial crime compliance, enabling financial institutions to precisely identify legitimate customers while flagging bad actors. The SaaS solutions overcome the limitations of traditional rule-based systems by shortening long implementation lifecycles, enabling efficient, risk-aware compliance operations. By transforming compliance from a regulatory obligation into a driver of growth, ThetaRay allows institutions to scale faster and expand confidently into new markets. By uncovering hidden criminal networks and delivering actionable insights, ThetaRay empowers organizations to combat evolving threats, maintain positive regulator relationships, and enhance customer experiences. Implemented at some of the world’s leading financial institutions including Santander, Clear Bank, Mashreq Bank, Payoneer, Onafriq and Travelex, ThetaRay helps financial institutions thrive, fostering trust and confidence across the global financial ecosystem.

I&M Group PLC

I&M Group has a long-standing presence in the Kenyan market with presence in banking, insurance and real estate. The Group offers a full range of banking and financial services covering corporate, business and personal banking, wealth management, bancassurance and advisory services with presence spanning across five countries in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and in Mauritius through a joint venture with CIEL Group (Bank One).

I&M Group PLC is regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya, Capital Markets Authority of Kenya and the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

For more information visitwww.imbankgroup.com

Peter Reynolds , CEO of ThetaRay, and Gul Khan, CEO of I&M Bank, shake hands following the signing of strategic partnership agreement.

Kihara Maina – I&M Bank Group Regional Chief Executive Officer | Jamie Loden - I&M Bank Chief Operating Officer | Peter Reynolds - CEO ThetaRay | Zipporah Gitau – I&M Bank Group Chief Risk and Compliance Officer

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is meeting with oil executives at the White House on Friday in hopes of securing $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s ability to fully tap into its expansive reserves of petroleum — a plan that rides on their comfort in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.

Since the U.S. military raid to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has quickly pivoted to portraying the move as a newfound economic opportunity for the U.S., seizing tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, saying the U.S. is taking over the sales of 30 million to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan oil and will be controlling sales worldwide indefinitely.

On Friday, U.S. forces seized their fifth tanker over the past month that has been linked to Venezuelan oil. The action reflected the determination of the U.S. to fully control the exporting, refining and production of Venezuelan petroleum, a sign of the Trump administration's plans for ongoing involvement in the sector as it seeks commitments from private companies.

It's all part of a broader push by Trump to keep gasoline prices low. At a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability, the incursion in Venezuela melds Trump’s assertive use of presidential powers with an optical spectacle meant to convince Americans that he can bring down energy prices.

The meeting, set for 2:30 p.m. EST, will be open to the news media, according to an update to the president's daily schedule. “At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump said Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.

Trump is set to meet with executives from 17 oil companies, according to the White House. Among the companies attending are Chevron, which still operates in Venezuela, and ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, which both had oil projects in the country that were lost as part of a 2007 nationalization of private businesses under Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez.

The president is meeting with a wide swath of domestic and international companies with interests ranging from construction to the commodity markets. Other companies slated to be at the meeting include Halliburton, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Singapore-based Trafigura, Italy-based Eni and Spain-based Repsol.

Large U.S. oil companies have so far largely refrained from affirming investments in Venezuela as contracts and guarantees need to be in place. Trump has suggested on social media that America would help to backstop any investments.

Venezuela’s oil production has slumped below one million barrels a day. Part of Trump's challenge to turn that around will be to convince oil companies that his administration has a stable relationship with Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez, as well as protections for companies entering the market.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are slated to attend the oil executives meeting, according to the White House.

Meanwhile, the United States and Venezuelan governments said Friday they were exploring the possibility of r estoring diplomatic relations between the two countries, and that a delegation from the Trump administration arrived to the South American nation on Friday.

The small team of U.S. diplomats and diplomatic security officials traveled to Venezuela to make a preliminary assessment about the potential re-opening of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, the State Department said in a statement.

Trump also announced on Friday he’d meet with President Gustavo Petro in early February, but called on the Colombian leader to make quick progress on stemming flow of cocaine into the U.S.

Trump, following the ouster of Maduro, had made vague threats to take similar action against Petro. Trump abruptly changed his tone Wednesday about his Colombian counterpart after a friendly phone call in which he invited Petro to visit the White House.

President Donald Trump waves as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)