Public Discussion on Astana Financial Services Legislation Framework

AIFC Authority

27 November 2017 00:00:00

The Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) held the 2^nd public discussion about the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) Legislation on 24 November 2017. The discussion was attended by Kazakhstan and international brokerage companies, banks, asset managers and Islamic financial companies.

AFSA CEO Mr. Stephen Glynn expressed his gratitude to the drafting team underlying that the, “AFSA together with legal advisers, Hogan Lovells and international experts have been working tirelessly to draft a bespoke legal and regulatory framework for the launch of the AIFC on 1^st January 2018’.

Mr. Glynn stated that in August 2017 the AFSA presented and discussed the first tranche of AIFC financial services legislation namely the: Financial Services Framework Regulations, General Rules, Market Rules, Authorised Market Institutions Rules and Recognitions Rules. He said the legislation had been reviewed and approved by the AFSA Board of Directors and are waiting enactment by the Governor of the AIFC.

At the 2^nd meeting the AFSA presented and discussed the: Conduct of Business Rules, Anti Money laundering and Counter -Terrorist Financing Rules, Collective Investment Scheme Rules, Recognition Rules, Auditor Rules, Fees Rules, Islamic Finance Rules and Prudential Rules for investment firms, insurance intermediaries and Islamic banking business, the list of qualification requirements to foreign citizens and stateless persons for the conduct of activities in the AIFC and the list of financial services of the AIFC participants exempted from corporate income tax.

Mr. Glynn said the rules were drafted based on international standards and practices of leading international financial centres and after being reviewed by the Legislative Committee of the AFSA Board would be considered by the AFSA Board of Director’s for their approval on December 10, 2017.

The participants expressed their interest in continuing the consultation process with the AFSA. The AFSA said they would conduct regular consultations in 2018 to provide a better understanding of the AIFC legal and regulatory framework.

Reference:

AIFC. In December 2015 the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev signed the Constitutional Statute “On the Astana International Financial Centre” (AIFC). The aim of the AIFC is to establish a leading international centre for financial services. For the first time in the post-Soviet region, a common law framework will be introduced in the AIFC. English shall be the official language of the AIFC.

The objectives of the AIFC are to attract investment into the economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan through the establishment of an attractive environment for investment in financial services, to develop local capital markets, ensuring their integration with the international capital markets, and develop markets for insurance and banking services and for Islamic financing in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

AFSA. The Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) is a legal entity and statutory body of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which is established in accordance with the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On the Astana International Financial Centre” for the purposes of regulating activities related to financial services in the Astana International Financial Centre (the ‘AIFC’). As such the AFSA administers the AIFC Regulations and Rules, which provides, among other things, for the authorization, registration, recognition and supervision of financial firms and market institutions.

The mission of the AFSA is to establish an environment that delivers fair and transparent financial and capital markets, in which individuals and institutions act with integrity.