Kazakhstan to simplify companies' access to stock market
Currently, companies entering the stock market have to deal with several organizations at different stages of the process. The Agency registers securities issues, the Central Securities Depository assigns international identification numbers and maintains ownership records, while the stock exchange handles listings. Closer coordination between these institutions is expected to simplify the process and standardize information requirements.
As part of the proposed changes, Kazakhstan plans to introduce a single digital window for the issuance and placement of shares and bonds, with the Central Securities Depository expected to operate the platform. Issuers will be able to submit a standardized set of documents through a single digital account for registration, listing and other required procedures.
The system will automatically check whether the documents are complete and properly formatted before forwarding them to the Agency, the stock exchange and the Central Securities Depository. It will also allow issuers to track the status of their applications, review comments and monitor deadlines.
Rather than being processed consecutively, documents will be reviewed simultaneously by the relevant institutions, allowing issuers to receive a coordinated response and reducing the time required to complete the process.
The digital window will also be integrated with the Central Securities Depository's accounting system, enabling international identification numbers to be assigned to securities and allowing them to be credited directly to investors' accounts. At the same time, document forms, prospectuses, disclosure requirements and procedures for cooperation between the institutions will be standardized.
Issuer verification, including anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing checks, will be carried out only once, with the results available to all institutions involved. The Central Securities Depository is also expected to gradually take over the receipt and preliminary review of documents, as well as the registration of bond issues under bond programs.
Requirements for issuing securities will be tailored to the type and size of the offering, the category of investors and the issuer's experience in public markets. Bonds intended for a limited group of professional investors will require fewer documents, while small and medium-sized offerings will be able to use a simplified prospectus consisting of five key sections instead of more than 15.
At the same time, full disclosure and investor protection requirements will remain in place for public offerings involving non-qualified investors.
Overall, the proposed changes are expected to shorten IPO preparation by around three to five months and reduce the full bond issuance cycle from three to six months to just one to two months. The reforms are also expected to lower costs for issuers and make Kazakhstan's stock market more accessible to new companies.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Kazakhstan had increased its fish exports by 35.7%, while imports had fallen by 12.8%.
