Kazakhstan’s Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) has set a one-year expiration limit on bank cards issued to foreigners. The corresponding amendments have been incorporated into the current legislation.
Businessmen, investors and diplomats are exempt from the policy. By introducing the new measure, the ARDFM aims to mitigate risks related to using banking services for drug trafficking and the illicit turnover of digital assets.
In response to an inquiry by Kursiv.media, the agency said that new rules do not apply to the already activated payment cards.
The ARDFM has also instructed banks to detect transactions connected with:
- Illegal production, turnover and transit of drugs;
- Payments and money transfers in favor of digital asset exchanges that are not part of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC);
- Payments and money transfers in favor of online and electronic casino games.
According to the new rule, banks also must enhance the assessment process for clients who possess more than five cards issued by the same bank and those who have three cards issued by each of three different banks.
On top of that, banks are now required to verify beneficial ownership information on businesses using official documents, open-source data and other appropriate methods to fulfill this obligation.
Before these amendments, financial services were required to check beneficial ownership if an owner held a 25% or greater interest in a company’s registered capital and under some other circumstances.
A beneficial owner is an individual who ultimately holds, controls or derives revenue from a company, property or financial assets, even if these are formally registered to another entity or organization.
