Freedom Holding Corp. obtains status of banking holding

The Agency for the Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) has agreed to provide the international financial holding Freedom Holding Corp. with the status of the banking holding Bank Freedom Finance Kazakhstan, which operates in Kazakhstan under the brand Freedom Bank, the agency said in a statement.

At the same time, the agency also agreed to provide Timur Turlov, the founder and key shareholder of Freedom Holding, with the status of key participant of Bank Freedom Finance Kazakhstan.

Freedom Bank was established in 2021 when Freedom Holding Corp. acquired Kassa Nova from ForteBank. At the time, Freedom Holding Corp. said that the group was going to focus on investment and banking activities, although the bank renders services to individual clients as well.

According to Kazakhstani legislation, any company that directly or indirectly owns at least 25% of a bank’s shares or controls it in another way can apply for banking holding status.

The ARDFM also decides whether a banking holding can establish a subsidiary. None of a bank’s stakeholders can possess more than 10% of its shares without permission from the agency.

By now, there are 21 banking holdings and 22 commercial banks in Kazakhstan. The latest version of this list, issued by the ARDFM in November 2021, also includes Russian Alfa Bank and Sberbank.