The European Union (EU) has prohibited organizations from third countries from operating with the Financial Messaging System of the Bank of Russia (SPFS), developed as an alternative to SWIFT, headquartered in Belgium. The National Payment Corporation of Kazakhstan (NPCK), a subsidiary of Kazakhstan’s National Bank, began cooperating with SPFS back in July 2024. However, it is unclear whether the two entities still cooperate.
Kursiv.media has reached out to the regulator to inquire whether NPCK’s cooperation with the Russian SPFS is still ongoing and what the possible consequences are. At the time of publication, the National Bank has not responded.
As of summer 2024, NPCK was integrated with SPFS via an intermediary called the Bank Message Transmission System (BMTS). There is no publicly available information on when this might have occurred.
The standard-form contract on connecting banks to SPFS via BMTS stated that «BMTS is an information system developed by NPCK to enable bilateral message exchange between BMTS users and SPFS participants, following the BMTS user’s registration as an SPFS participant.»
The contract also states that its duration is undefined and that it can only be terminated either by written notice from one of the parties or in the event of force majeure.
Last year, the National Bank didn’t respond to an inquiry from Kursiv.media on whether the integration with the Russian system amid the current geopolitical situation was safe. Furthermore, the regulator didn’t clarify whether it planned to terminate cooperation with SPFS if restrictions were introduced, nor did it specify what measures Kazakhstan would take in such a case.
As of summer 2024, Bereke Bank — a former subsidiary of the state-owned Baiterek Holding and now owned by Qatari Lesha Bank — was the only bank among Kazakhstan’s seven major banks to be fully connected to BMTS. Kursiv.media reached out to the bank for comment on whether it was still operating with SPFS. At the time of publication, the bank has not responded.
SPFS was developed in 2014 to address the risk of Russia being disconnected from SWIFT. In 2022, several major Russian banks were indeed deprived of access to the Western financial messaging network.
On Feb. 24, 2025, the EU approved the 16th package of anti-Russian sanctions. The new list includes 83 private entities and companies, including two from Kazakhstan: MetallStan and Kazstanex, both registered in Almaty and previously sanctioned by the U.S.
