Kazakhstan to develop bond market guide
Seeking to attract more investors to Kazakhstan, the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) aims to develop a guide to the country’s bond market, according to its 2025 plan.
Even though the agency has not disclosed further details on the initiative, it said that it intends to stimulate private businesses to go public on the stock market. Furthermore, the ARDFM will take measures to increase the share of domestic offerings in parallel with their international placements.
The agency also plans to establish a legislative base for cryptocurrency market development beyond the Astana International Financial Centre’s jurisdiction later this year. On top of that, the regulator is going to set rules for endowment funds and local competence centers focusing on independent credit risk assessment, as well as expand investment funds’ capabilities.
In 2024, in order to attract foreign investors to Kazakhstan’s market, the Central Securities Depository established connections with Euroclear Bank, Clearstream Banking and The Bank of New York Mellon, as well as with settlement institutions in Russia, Armenia, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan. The national legislation has been modified to allow international settlement organizations to open accounts in the Central Securities Depository and custodian banks to manage their accounts. On top of that, the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange joined the Tabadul Hub, a digital stock exchange platform enabling Kazakhstani investors to access foreign markets.
Earlier this week, Beata Javorcik, the chief economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, gave an interview to Kursiv.media in which she advised Kazakhstan to strengthen the role of its national company Kazakh Invest and transform it into a world-class investment agency. She believes this would attract a greater flow of foreign investment to the country.
