Third stock exchange opens in Kazakhstan, will not work with Russian brokers
ASTANA. June 7 (Interfax) - Securities trading has begun on the new ITS trading floor, located in the jurisdiction of the Astana International Financial Center in Kazakhstan, an Interfax correspondent reported.
At the first stage, investors can trade over 1,500 shares and depository receipts with listings on the American NYSE and NASDAQ stock exchanges. This list includes securities from companies such as Baidu, Intel, JD.com, Microsoft, NVIDIA, AstraZeneca, Rio Tinto, and Shell (SPB: RDS.A).
"The main strategic task of ITS is to provide investors with maximum investment opportunities through access to a wide list of securities from the international market, using trading and liquidity technologies which are fundamentally new for Kazakhstan. We expect that the start of trading on ITS will increase investor interest in the securities of local companies, including via entry into the securities market of international investors from Asian countries," Chingiz Kanapyanov, Chairman of the Board of ITS, said at the ceremony.
At the same time, the trading floor will not work with Russian brokers and securities, he said.
"ITS will not serve Russian brokers serving retail investors, nor will it deal in Russian securities. This is not in our business model and we will not involve Russian brokers," Kanapyanov said.
It is expected that ITS clients will be the largest Kazakh professional participants in the securities market - financial intermediaries, both accredited and directly registered in the Astana Financial Center. Individual investors and legal entities will have access to trading through Kazakh brokers and banks.
ITS expects that during the first half of the year after the start of trading, about 15 professional participants will connect to the platform. Retail investors will have access to trading on ITS as brokers connect.
Two stock exchanges already operate in Kazakhstan: the country's largest platform, the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, and the Astana International Exchange (AIX). The AIX exchange also operates under the jurisdiction of the Astana Financial Center. Securities from Kazakh issuers are mainly traded on both exchanges, which both work with Russian brokers, among others.