Kazakh president signs bill on banks, banking activities into law
ASTANA. Jan 16 (Interfax) - Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has signed into law a bill on banks and banking activities, as well as amendments to legislative acts on regulation and development of the financial market, communications and bankruptcy, the presidential press service said.
As head of the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market Madina Abylkassymova said earlier, the law establishes the legal foundations for the banking system. This includes the regulation, control, and supervision of banking activities, the protection of the rights of depositors, other creditors, and bank clients, the promotion of fair competition in the banking services market, and improving financial literacy and the accessibility of banking services for the population.
To reduce market concentration and develop competition, the law provides for the liberalization of banking licensing requirements by introducing basic and universal licenses. A basic license will differ from a universal one in the scope of permitted operations and the level of regulatory requirements. Banks with a basic license will face limits on maximum asset size and minimum capital.
"At the current stage, the planned limit on assets is up to 500 billion tenge and a minimum capital of no less than 10 billion tenge," Abylkassymova said.
A key innovation is the permission for the circulation and introduction of regulation for digital financial assets (DFAs) as a new asset class within Kazakhstan. Specifically, the law provides for three types of DFAs.
First, DFAs whose underlying asset is money - stablecoins. Requirements for the issuance, circulation, and redemption of stablecoins will be determined by the National Bank. Second, DFAs whose underlying asset is financial instruments, financial assets, property rights, goods, or other property. Third, financial instruments issued in electronic-digital form on a digital platform.
Furthermore, the law provides for the regulation of another type of digital asset - cryptocurrencies. It envisions the creation of cryptocurrency exchange organizations, whose activities will be licensed and regulated by the National Bank.
The document grants banks the right to create and acquire subsidiaries in the fields of digital technology, e-commerce, cybersecurity, biometrics, artificial intelligence, and telecommunications.
Additionally, to develop alternative financing mechanisms, universal banks are granted the right to conduct Islamic banking operations under their existing license. These regulations will allow banks to create specialized divisions offering Islamic products within their structure without the need to establish a separate bank.
The law introduces requirements that prevent loans from being issued in the name of third parties. When opening a bank account for the first time, biometric identification will be conducted through the National Bank's biometric system, while for a first-time loan, it will be granted only with the borrower's personal presence at the bank or microfinance institution.
Furthermore, an accelerated out-of-court bankruptcy procedure is introduced. For debtors with a total debt to banks and microfinance institutions of up to 1,600 Monthly Calculation Indices (approximately 6.2 million tenge), whose repayment terms have exceeded five years, the procedure is shortened from six months to one month. According to credit bureau data, this measure will apply to over 350,000 citizens with debts exceeding 200 billion tenge.
For citizens with loans from multiple credit organizations simultaneously, the law introduces the possibility of collective settlement through a platform under the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Additionally, the moratorium on the sale of individuals' debts to collection agencies is extended until May 1, 2027.
