The surfactant-Co(III) complexes of the type cis-[Co(en)2AX]2+ (A=Tetradecylamine, X=Cl,Br) were synthesised from corresponding dihalogeno complexes by the ligand substitution method. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) values of these surfactant complexes in aqueous solution were obtained from conductance measurements. The kinetics and mechanism of iron(II) reduction of surfactant-Co(III) complexes, cis-[Co(en)2(C14H29NH2)Cl](ClO4)2 and cis-[Co(en)2(C14H29NH2)Br] (ClO4)2 ions were studied spectrophotometrically in an aqueous acid medium by following the disappearance of Co(III) using an excess of the reductant under pseudo-first-order conditions: [Fe(II)]=0.25moldm -3, [H+]=0.1moldm -3, [μ]=1.0moldm -3 ionic strength in a nitrogen atmosphere at 303, 308 and 313K. The reaction was found to be of second order and showed acid independence in the range [H+]=0.05-0.25moldm -3. The second-order rate constant increased with surfactant-Co(III) concentration and the presence of aggregation of the complex itself altered the reaction rate. The effects of [Fe(II)], [H+] and [μ] on the rate were determined. Activation and thermodynamic parameters were computed. It is suggested that the reaction of [Fe(II)] with Co(III) complex proceeds by an inner-sphere mechanism. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.