On Oct. 15, 2024, Freedom Bank Kazakhstan, JSC obtained a banking license in Tajikistan. This information was revealed by CEO of Freedom Holding Corp. Timur Turlov.
«Today, a subsidiary of Freedom Kazakhstan has obtained a banking license in Tajikistan! Congratulations to @aidos_zhumagulov_b [Aidos Zhumagulov, member of Freedom Bank’s board] and his team!» Turlov wrote on Instagram.
Freedom Bank announced its plan to enter the Tajikistani market in January 2024. On April 12, the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) authorized the bank’s intention to establish a closed joint-stock company in Tajikistan.
In August, Zhumagulov said that establishing a subsidiary in Tajikistan would allow Freedom Bank to scale up its experience and introduce digital financial products to the new market. As he noted, the bank has done a lot by gathering various professionals into one team. Furthermore, Freedom Bank will be supporting the opening of an IT park in Tajikistan.
According to Zhumagulov, the process of opening the new subsidiary was boosted by the effective work of the local regulator. «We realized that if we applied for a banking license, we would obtain it within six to eight months,» a Tajikistani media outlet, Vechorka, reported, citing Zhumagulov. The bank’s executive also emphasized that the bank is going to offer its new customers in Tajikistan popular financial products such as deposit cards, cards with cashback and investment cards, along with products for businesses.
As of Sept. 1, 2024, Freedom Bank was ranked the eighth-largest bank out of 21 commercial banks in Kazakhstan. It has $4.7 billion in assets, $319.6 million in equity and $45.8 million in profit.
Freedom Bank is controlled by Freedom Finance, JSC, a Kazakhstani broker that is the sole shareholder of the bank. In turn, the brokerage company is a subsidiary of Freedom Holding Corp., which also includes various businesses such as Freedom Insurance, Freedom Life, Arbuz.kz, an online supermarket, and Aviata.kz, a flight ticket aggregator. Moreover, many other companies are developing under the holding’s umbrella brand: Freedom Drive, Freedom Mobile, Freedom Ticketon, Freedom Telecom and Chocotravel. On Oct. 15, 2024, Freedom Holding Corp. celebrated the fifth anniversary of being listed on Nasdaq. Over these years, the share value of the holding has risen sevenfold from $14.42 to $97, while its market cap has reached $6 billion.
