Nairobi, March 11 -- Kenya's recent addition to a list of countries at risk of money laundering will hurt the credit rating of local banks as they face potential delays in settling transactions and loss of correspondent relationships, global ratings agency Moody's says.

In a note, the ratings firm says the inclusion on the list, known as a grey list, will typically result in higher transactional, compliance and funding costs for banks as their dealings are subjected to tighter scrutiny hence the risk of losing business.

Global anti-money laundering watchdog Finance Action Task Force (FATF) added Kenya to the list of 21 countries on the grey list last month.

This was after a periodic review that found the country to be non-compliant wit...