Illustration: AI
Kazakhstan has approved a capital market development programme for 2026–2030, with seven focus areas and 35 initiatives. The Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market and the National Bank plan to make it easier for businesses to raise money through securities. The measures include changes to pension asset management and work on a new law (informburo.kz).
What happened
The programme aims to help companies raise long-term financing alongside bank loans. To do this, the authorities intend to simplify and digitise listing procedures. The plans also include preparing companies to issue securities and offering tax incentives.
A separate focus is corporate bonds, securities that companies use to borrow money from investors. The programme includes measures to encourage bond issuance and develop tools for managing financial risks.
What this means for pension assets
The authorities plan to make pension asset management more effective and expand the use of these assets in market investments. The programme also supports collective investment, where several investors pool their money to invest, and aims to create conditions for new professional investment managers to enter the market.
One detail matters here: these are plans for a five-year programme. Many of the measures still need to be written into a new law, “On the Capital Market”.
The use of pension money to finance businesses ties into the issue of lending to the economy with UAPF participation. The programme focuses on expanding the securities market’s capacity to provide long-term funding.
What this means for companies and investors
For companies issuing bonds, the authorities plan to introduce rules for pre-agreed restructuring, meaning changes to debt repayment terms. They also want to strengthen the role of bondholder representatives and improve insolvency procedures involving foreign companies or creditors.
Plans for stock trading include developing securities borrowing and expanding international access to the market. The programme also covers digital financial assets and the Islamic segment of the capital market.
Bill set to be submitted by the end of 2026
According to the agency, the market value of shares in Kazakhstani companies has risen from 19.1 trillion to 41.8 trillion tenge over the past five years. The debt securities market grew from 32 trillion to 58 trillion tenge over the same period.
The next step is the bill “On the Capital Market”. The authorities intend to submit it to the Kurultai for consideration by the end of 2026.
