In 2024, the number of automated teller machines (ATMs) in Kazakhstan decreased by 0.6% year-on-year (YoY) to 12,569 machines. This decline is occurring while the cash-out share in the payment card transaction composition has stabilized. Kursiv Research is trying to figure out whether this is the end of ATMs as…
Kazakhstan’s leading pension fund management entities have released performance reports for the past year. Kursiv.media analyzed them to see which entities outperformed their competitors. In 2024, pension asset management companies (PAMCs) in Kazakhstan delivered solid returns for depositors. However, six major players in this review showed mixed investment results. BCC…
Exchange rate volatility and high interest rates on tenge deposits make it challenging to objectively assess the trends in financial flows between banks and retail clients. To tackle these challenges, Kursiv.media sought to eliminate the impact of these two distorting factors to provide a clearer analysis. Kursiv.media surveyed Kazakhstan’s 10…
Kazakhstan’s authorities reported a more than twofold increase in the number of registered EVs — from 4,700 to 10,700 year-on-year. For some insurance companies, this means new opportunities as they launch new products specially designed for EVs, while for others this is unchartered territory, leading them to avoid optional insurance…
The National Bank of Kazakhstan has recently published financial indicators for second-tier banks for August 2024. The sector saw a rise in bad loans by $41 million, which represents only a minimal increase of 0.01%. Kursiv.media analyzed how the balance of power in the country’s banking system has shifted based…
On May 31, 2024, subsequent court hearings of a case against Binance are expected to occur as the country’s authorities accuse the cryptocurrency exchange of rendering services to Uzbekistani citizens without a proper license and refusing to pay a fine for violation of the national legislation. So far, there are…
As Halyk Bank told Kursiv, it still wants to sell its Kyrgyzstani subsidiary to the Visor group. Both sides have been waiting for approval from the Kyrgyz regulator for three months now. In 2019, Aidan Karibzhanov, the majority shareholder of Visor, commented on assets in the neighboring country: «We still…
According to the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM), in 2023, almost all segments of Kazakhstan’s banking sector reported growth over the 2022 results except for mortgages and retail lending. Consumer lending has risen by 34.1% to $22.8 billion, while equity capital of the entire banking…
Last year, expenditures associated with the management of the National Fund of Kazakhstan and its audit were three times bigger than in 2022, due to fees and bonuses to external managers for excess returns. On January 18, 2024, Kursiv covered the results of the National Fund of Kazakhstan in 2023…
While President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was delivering his address to the nation, he said that it is necessary to spur corporate lending and justly noted that banks aren’t active enough in contributing to the economic growth of Kazakhstan. Сorporate loans to the GDP ratio has been declining since 2014. As a…
Over the period from January to April this year, Kazakhstan received more revenue from exports to Russia than over the same period last year. According to the Bureau of National Statistics (BNS), the amount of these exports reached $3.2 billion in terms of money. Such a significant increase in exports…
Kyrgyzstan is going to close its eyes on revenues obtained from undisclosed sources. Kyrgyzstan is preparing for capital amnesty, the fourth such amnesty in the country’s history. Kyrgyz parliament has already approved a law on voluntary legalization and amnesty of assets of individuals. Once the law is signed by President…
Bank CenteCredit (BCC) acquired Alfa Bank for $111 million, according to the bank’s financial statement for 2022 published by KASE. As a result of the deal, the bank gained $187 million in revenue. The deal was closed on May 5, 2022, although no details of the deal were disclosed at…
According to Madina Abylkasymova, head of the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) in Kazakhstan, the government is looking for buyers for its Bereke Bank. «On March 8, 2023, the bank was removed from the SDN list. Currently, it is performing quite well. For instance, its…
Halyk Bank has reported losses associated with the selling of its subsidiaries in Russia and Tajikistan: Moskommertsbank and Halyk Bank Tajikistan, according to data published on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) website. KASE data shows that the bank estimated its losses associated with the selling of Moskommertsbank at $41.1 million.…
The Bostandyk district court in Almaty has arrested common and privileged shares of Jusan Bank that belong to First Heartland Securities, the majority stakeholder of the bank, according to the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE). The court arrested 131.3 million common and privileged shares belonging to First Heartland Securities – the…
As the Kursiv edition came to know, business structures affiliated with the Russian Sinara Group have become the new owner of Moskommertsbank, a former subsidiary of Halyk Bank. Sinara, which is based in Yekaterinburg, previously was controlled by Russian billionaire Dmitry Pumpyansky. He also owned TMK, a metallurgic company that…
According to Lyazzat Satiyeva, head of the Kazakhstani Eurasian Bank, the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan has given the bank preliminary permission to open a subsidiary in the country. The official noted that Eurasian Bank filed its application to the Central Bank in December 2022. Earlier last year,…
According to Olzhas Kizatov, deputy head of the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market of the Republic of Kazakhstan (ARDFM), about seven banks might be affected by new restrictions the agency is going to impose on dividend payout policy. All these banks have received financial support from…
Kyrgyzstan plans to raise the minimum rate for commercial banks’ registered and equity capital. The rate may be about $23.2 million for too-big-to-fail banks. The Kursiv edition has tried to determine whether these changes will affect Optima Bank and Halyk Bank Kyrgyzstan, the two subsidiaries of big Kazakhstani banks. The…
The government of Uzbekistan has reduced the value-added tax (VAT) to 12%. The new rule entered into force on January 1, 2023. The authorities expect that the move will help reduce the shadow economy, stimulate business activity in the country and increase public revenues. After reducing the VAT to 12%,…
Mikhail Lomtadze, CEO and co-founder of Kaspi has bought two million shares of the company from another stockholder Vyacheslav Kim. As a result, Lomtadze is the second largest stockholder after Baring Vostok, according to the company’s data from January 1, 2023. According to KASE, Lomtadze’s share in Kaspi increased from…
OTP Group, the leading financial organization in Hungary, has finally signed a purchase agreement with Uzbekistan’s Ipoteka-Bank. A long-awaited deal Even though the deal between Ipoteka-Bank and OTP Group was expected to be closed within two months, it took almost a year because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. OTP’s…
The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control doesn’t mind if individuals who left Russia for Kazakhstan are using Russian payment cards Mir in their daily life, according to the Agency for Regulating and Development of the Financial Market in Kazakhstan. «Kazakhstan’s commercial banks can accept any payments and money transfers…
