KAZPOST, RENAISSANCE CAPITAL BECOME TRADING MEMBERS OF AIX
Astana International Exchange (AIX) announce that Kazpost JSC and Renaissance Capital investment company have become trading members of AIX. The certificates were awarded to the heads of these organizations during the visit of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, to Astana International Financial Centre.
“We are pleased to welcome our new trading members, who will allow thousands of Kazakhstan and foreign investors to access the AIX platform,” – said Tim Bennett, CEO of AIX. – Wide coverage of Kazpost’s client base and experience of participation in the previously held “People’s IPO”, as well as the unique geography of Renaissance Capital’s coverage will open new opportunities for the clients of these companies in the Central Asian capital market.”
Saken Sarsenov, Chairman of the Management Board of Kazpost JSC highlighted:
“Astana International Exchange is a world class platform and we are glad to obtain access to it. This shall allow Kazpost to provide a wider scope of opportunities to its clients to invest using this modern trading platform. I can assure that as a broker Kazpost will actively contribute to the development of capital market in Kazakhstan.”
Christoph Charlier, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Renaissance Capital said, “Astana International Exchange’s tech platform meets most advanced requirements and expectations of the market participants and offers great opportunities for the stock exchange and its partners. We are happy to be able to provide our clients with a full-fledged exchange access to participate in the national privatization programme as well as Sovereign and corporate securities offerings. Being one of the leading investment banks in emerging and frontier markets, Renaissance Capital has a multi-year successful track record of implementing transactions for Kazakh issuers in equity and debt capital markets and promoting Kazakhstan’s investment case among international investors.”
Kazpost JSC provides brokerage services on the basis of a license for brokerage and dealer activities with the right to maintain customer accounts as a nominal holder, as well as transfer-agency activities since 2000. The brokerage client base of Kazpost includes more than 32 thousand active individual accounts. Company’s each regional branch employs specialists in brokerage services. There are more than 100 brokerage service points in the postal communication centers throughout the country.
MEETING OF COLLEGIAL BODY OF AIFC
As part of Astana finance days, a meeting of the highest collegial body of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) – the AIFC Management Board, chaired by President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, was held.
The meeting was also attended by Deputy Chairman of the Council – Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Askar Mamin, Minister of Finance of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov, Minister of National Economy of Kazakhstan Ruslan Dalenov, Chairman of the National Bank Yerbolat Dosayev, Governor of AIFC Kairat Kelimbetov and authoritative leaders of major international financial institutions, such as President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Suma Chakrabarti, President of the Islamic Development Bank Group Bandar Al Hajjar, and the head of the global bloc of governments and the public sector of an investment and corporate bank Citigroup Julie Monaco.
During the meeting of the Council an official presentation of the AIFC annual report was held.
Bandar Hajjar noted the great work that the AIFC has done since the official opening and stressed that the Islamic Development Bank is a strategic partner of the Republic of Kazakhstan and will continue to develop mutually beneficial relations and work on increasing the portfolio of projects.
Suma Chakrabarti noted that the EBRD is a partner of the AIFC and is working closely together on green financing at the AIFC platform, which will benefit and profit to all of Kazakhstan in the future.
During the meeting of the AIFC Management Board, the President of the first foreign company to become an issuer at the AIFC Stock Exchange (AIX) Polymetal management company JSC, also gave a speech.
“On April 17 of this year, ordinary shares of Polymetal International plc were included in the official list of the International Financial Center Astana. At the close of trading the volume of placement amounted to 1,690,440 shares in the amount of more than 17 million US dollars. Demand for stocks exceeded supply by more than 2 times! Trading results exceeded all our expectations. We believe that in the medium term, the AIFC will acquire significance as the main regional investment platform of the whole of Central Asia. AIX will become a place of attraction for investors from Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey and, of course, China,” said Igor Finogenov.
FINTECH SUMMIT WAS HELD WITHIN THE ASTANA FINANCE DAYS
A Fintech Summit dedicated to the topic of financial technologies took place for the first time during the Astana Finance Days. Experts, investors and business representatives from around the world gathered to attend the Summit, including Evgeny Lesnyak (Fintech&Ventures, Visa), Anton Musin (Accenture), Sam Tidswell-Norrish (Motive Partners), Erez Shachar (Qumra Capital), Jochen Biedermann (WAIFC), and others. Participants of the panel sessions discussed Fintech trends affecting Central Asia, investment promotion conditions, blockchain and cybersecurity. Sam Tidswell-Norrish, founding member of Motive Partners and Group Head of Business Development, noted that “three ingredients are needed for the development of the fintech ecosystem: capital, concept and collaboration.”
Anton Musin, Accenture’s Managing Director in Kazakhstan, mentioned the use of the Open Banking concept as an example of Fintech trend, when banks open up access to part of their information assets, and third parties get access to data. The representative of Accenture believes that banks and financial institutions that will not implement the Open Banking strategy will lose up to 30% of revenue. Also, within the framework of the summit, the presentation of the report “Review of the Financial Sector in the Region” took place, which AIFC in partnership with audit companies as Deloitte, KPMG, and PwC. The document provides information on the volume of banking and fintech industries, on measures of state support, tax regulation and investment climate in the post-Soviet countries. The report could help to understand the situation on the financial market and the impact of financial technologies on it.
One of the key moments of the Fintech Summit was the final of the global Visa Everywhere Initiative (VEI), which is held for the first time in Central Asia in partnership with the AIFC. The jury chose five winners.
AIFC Governor Kairat Kelimbetov mentioned, “Fintech Summit had a lot on the program. An event of this kind raises the level of awareness of financial technologies. AIFC pays special attention to the development of the fintech sector.”
INT’L ARBITRATION CENTRE LAUNCHES A NEW SERVICE FOR INVESTORS
On 4 July the International Arbitration Centre at the AIFC (“IAC”) launched its new service, Arbitration-Mediation or “Arb-Med”. Arb-Med is a process where a dispute is first referred to arbitration. If parties are unable to settle their dispute through arbitration, they may attempt mediation.
The Arb-Med service was launched with a demonstration of a arb-med resolution of a financial dispute lead by an arbitration panel consisting of the IAC Chairman, Barbara Dohmann QC, and two IAC Arbitrators, Dr. Stephan Grigolli and Thomas Kruemmel. Sir Robin Jacob, an IAC Arbitrator and Mediator Panel member and a Justice at the AIFC Court, was the mediator. Four leading lawyers from the Kazakhstan legal community presented legal arguments to the arbitrators and mediator.
The IAC’s Arb-Med service and demonstration is the first of its kind at an international arbitration centre in Eurasia. Unlike arb-med services at other arbitration centres, at the IAC the mediator who is appointed to mediate the dispute has not been an arbitrator in that dispute. The mediator is independent from the arbitrators and is a neutral facilitator. It is expected that Arb-Med at the IAC will further enhance its capacity to resolve commercial disputes as quickly and cost effectively as possible.
The IAC has so far trained 36 Kazakh nationals with an international accredited mediator qualification in cooperation with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution in London which is a leading provider of mediator training. The latest of these trainings happened in Nur-Sultan and Almaty in June 2019.
Mr. Christopher Campbell-Holt, Registrar and Chief Executive of the AIFC Court and IAC, commented, “The IAC is committed to becoming the number one choice for alternative dispute resolution in Eurasia. Arb-Med is our latest initiative and we are proud to launch this new service today. We are also developing a mediator community in Kazakhstan that will be qualified to provide the very best international standards of mediation to assist parties to resolve their commercial disputes quickly and cost effectively at the IAC.”
ASTANA FINANCIAL SERVICES AUTHORITY SIGNS IOSCO MOU
The Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA), the regulatory body of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), has become a participant to the IOSCO Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding concerning Consultation and Cooperation and the Exchange of Information (IOSCO MMoU).
Becoming a signatory to the MMoU confirms that the AIFC financial regulatory framework complies with global standards for the exchange of information on cross border financial activities in capital markets and protection of confidential information. The AFSA will enhance its upervision of cross-border securities’ transactions to ensure market integrity and stability and to facilitate enforcement of AIFC regulations and rules.
In an increasingly globalised environment for the capital market the MMoU provides critical tools for effective cooperation among regulators. Signing the IOSCO MMoU will allow the AFSA to cooperate on cross-border enforcement with the other 123 regulatory authorities who are also signatories to the MMoU and an integral part of the global capital market.
Mukhtar Bubeyev, Acting CEO of the AFSA, said: “Signing the IOSCO MMoU is an important milestone in formation of regulatory framework of AIFC and development of capital markets in the AIFC. We are very proud to be part of the large group of signatories to the IOSCO MMoU and to demonstrate our commitment to international enforcement cooperation».
1ST KAZAKH FORUM OF EDTECH 2019 HELD
The first Kazakhstan forum of educational technologies EdTech: People. Inspiration. Progressive growth. was held at the AIFC Bureau (BCPD) at the second annual conference of Astana Finance Days. Inspiration. Progressive growth.
The EdTech Forum gathered at its site recognized international experts and local participants in the field of educational technologies, ministries and departments, universities, professional community, developers and investors who are involved in educational technologies and are interested in its development of the industry, ensuring and simplifying access to knowledge through new technologies.
The EdTech Forum will bring together the industry to give impetus to the development of human capital at a qualitatively new level through technology, international professional certifications, innovations, digitalization, inclusive approaches, STEM and other advanced techniques. By combining the best global experience with local wisdom, the AIFC Bureau seeks to contribute to the emergence of the EdTech 4.0 industry, responding to the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution, where technology and people will become the unified source for progress.
The rich program of the forum includes panel sessions, workshops and master classes on сurrent topics such as: professions of the future, transformation of education, modern trends and global practices in the use of technology in education, as well as a lot of useful content.
The event is designed to inspire people to continuous professional development throughout their lives, using and demonstrating successful practices from around the world. The forum will host the EdTech Alley exhibition, where the top 20 companies that have passed the competitive selection will take part in a mentor marathon where international experts and world industry leaders will give feedback, share their expertise and vision for the EdTech industry. and in the world.
An alley of projects has become an integral part of the Forum, where for the first time 20 leading companies of Kazakhstan in the field of educational technologies were merged and represented. These projects passed through the selection, gaining access to the mentor marathon, where industry experts gave an assessment and recommendations to the projects. The distinguished teams at the exhibition received a ticket to the EdCrunch conference in Moscow, as well as certificates for participation in the acceleration program at Astana Hub.
The AIFC aims to contribute to the emergence of the EdTech 4.0 industry by responding to the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution, where technology and people will become a joint source for progress. Thus, the EdTech Forum is designed to unite the education and technology industries to give impetus to the development of human capital at a qualitatively new level through advanced techniques.
Courtesy: Media Hub Int’l, UAE