From 16 December 2020, foreign banks are allowed to open their branches in Kazakhstan, subject to compliance with current legislation and certain additional requirements.
"Article 13-1. Opening a branch of a non-resident bank in the Republic of Kazakhstan
1. A non-resident bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan has the right to apply to the authorized body for obtaining permission to open a branch in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, provided that the following conditions are met:
1) the sum of the total assets of a non-resident bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan must not be less than an amount equivalent to twenty billion US dollars;
( FATF);
3) the existence of an agreement between the authorized body and the financial supervision body of the state, the resident of which is the non-resident bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The agreement between the authorized body and the financial supervision body of the state, the resident of which is a non-resident bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan, must contain the procedure for the exchange of confidential information constituting a commercial secret in the securities market, bank secrets, insurance secrets or other secrets protected by law, the procedure for cooperation on opening a branch of a non-resident bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan, licensing, coordination of executives, regulation, control and supervision (including conducting inspections of activities) and termination of activities of a non-resident bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan and its branch, as well as other issues of interaction for the purpose of exercising control and supervisory functions ;
4) the presence of a written notification of the financial supervision body of the state, the resident of which is the non-resident bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan, that it does not object to the opening of a branch of the non-resident bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, or a statement of the financial supervision body of the said state that such permission is not required under the legislation of the state, the resident of which is the non-resident bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
5) the presence of a written confirmation of the financial supervision body of the state, the resident of which is the non-resident bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan, that the non-resident bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan has a valid banking license.
2. An application for permission to open a branch of a non-resident bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Kazakh or Russian is submitted in the form established by the regulatory legal act of the authorized body, with the following documents attached: [...]
3. Refusal to issue a permit to open a branch of a non-resident bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan is made on any of the following grounds:
1) non-compliance with the requirements established by paragraph 1 of this article;
2) non-compliance with the requirements established by subparagraphs 8) and 11) of part one of paragraph 2 of this article;
3) the business plan and other submitted documents do not show that:
-after the expiration of the first three financial (operating) years, the activities of a branch of a non-resident bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan will be profitable;
-a branch of a non-resident bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan intends to comply with the requirements for limiting risk and create an appropriate management structure;
-a branch of a non-resident bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan has an organizational structure corresponding to the plans of its activities;
-a branch of a non-resident bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan has an accounting and control structure corresponding to the plans of its activities;
 4) inconsistency of the name of the branch of a non-resident bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan with the requirements of paragraph 2 of Article 4-1 of this Law;
 5) non-elimination of the comments of the authorized body on the submitted documents within the time period established by it.
 The authorized body shall notify the non-resident bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan in writing about the grounds for refusal. [...]" (Law On Banks and Banking Activities (No. 2444 of 31 August 1995), as amended by Law No. 399-VI of 02.01.2021 (in effect from 16.12.2020), Article 13-1 [google translation])
Law On Banks and Banking Activities (No. 2444 of 31 August 1995), as amended by Law No. 399-VI of 02.01.2021 (in effect from 16.12.2020), Article 13-1
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