AFSA Approves Designation of Clearing Participation Certificates as a Qualified Investment

The Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) has issued a Decision Notice on the Designation of Clearing Participation Certificates (CPCs) to be issued by International Trading System Limited (ITS) as a Qualified Investment under the AIFC Multilateral and Organised Trading Facilities Rules (MOTF). The relevant announcement was made on September 10, during the Astana Finance Days 2026 forum.

This designation introduces a new collateral instrument within the AIFC capital markets framework, designed to support more efficient liquidity management and secured funding through repo transactions. CPCs will enable clearing members to use eligible assets contributed to a segregated collateral pool as a standardised collateral instrument, facilitating access to short-term liquidity through the regulated market infrastructure operated by ITS.

Evgeniya Bogdanova, AFSA Chief Executive Officer, comments: “The designation of CPCs represents an infrastructure solution that can make collateral more fungible and efficiently utilized on money markets. Collateral is often fragmented across different assets and transactions, making it costly and difficult to mobilize and reuse. CPCs introduce collateral fungibility by transforming a pool of eligible assets into a standardized collateral instrument. This improves collateral mobility, allowing financial institutions to transfer, substitute, and redeploy collateral more efficiently. They also enhance netting efficiency, helping reduce the amount of collateral and liquidity required to support secured funding transactions. For the AIFC, this can contribute to the development of a deeper and more liquid money market, particularly by supporting the growth of repo and other forms of secured funding”.

The framework is designed to enhance collateral mobility while maintaining appropriate safeguards through asset eligibility criteria, valuation and haircut requirements, margining, concentration controls, default management arrangements, and transparency requirements.

The designation follows AFSA’s assessment of the instrument’s economic effect, intended users, regulatory treatment of comparable instruments in other jurisdictions, and potential impact on market participants. In conducting its assessment, AFSA also considered market feedback received during the public consultation process and identified and addressed key risks associated with the instrument, including liquidity, market, credit, operational and collateral adequacy risks.

The designation is subject to specific regulatory conditions and limitations, which intends to ensure that CPCs are introduced in a controlled manner and that the associated risks remain appropriately managed as the product develops.

The notice can be found via this link.

Reference:

The Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) is the independent regulator of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), established in accordance with the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On the Astana International Financial Centre” for the purposes of regulating financial services and related activities in the AIFC. AFSA administers the AIFC Regulations and Rules and is responsible for the authorisation, registration, recognition, and supervision of financial firms and market institutions in the AIFC. afsa.kz

The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) is an independent jurisdiction where investors and businesses meet emerging opportunities of Kazakhstan and Central Asia in a transparent and sustainable environment backed by the principles of English Common Law. aifc.kz Public Relations and Communications Division of AFSA, [email protected]