FEAS Yearbook 2025 FEAS Yearbook 2025 | Page 89

Yearbook 2025

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Once the regulatory framework became clearer and reforms were consolidated, renewed growth in activity was observed in the fourth quarter of 2025. Throughout this period, KASE’s market infrastructure ensured uninterrupted operations, preserved system liquidity, and maintained confidence among market participants. Looking ahead, planned issuances of government securities, serving as high-quality collateral, are expected to further support the repo market and strengthen overall market stability, providing participants with greater confidence to engage in transactions under the evolving macroeconomic conditions.

KASE and KASE Clearing Center (together referred to as the KASE Group) entered the first year of implementing its 2025–2027 Development Strategy adopted at the end of 2024.  The Strategy is structured around three interconnected directions: accelerating growth in the core business, launching new services and products, and enhancing infrastructure. All key performance indicators set for 2025 were achieved.

The first strategic direction - accelerated core business growth. In 2025, initiatives under this direction focused on three key infrastructure priorities: market access, market depth, and post-trade efficiency. This strengthened the primary market pipeline and diversified the issuer base. At the same time, market access was supported through the consolidation of all educational programs for internal teams and external investors under the KASE Academy brand, strengthening investor engagement and fostering deeper, more stable participation in KASE’s core markets. Within the market depth and liquidity priority, KASE implemented measures targeting both secondary market turnover and benchmark development. Under the post-trade efficiency priority, operational scalability was improved through: introduction of Chinese yuan settlements in stock and repo markets, diversifying currency infrastructure; implementation of a new foreign currency settlement mechanism with the CCP, including via the Eurobond settlement system, enabling securities placement without blocking investor funds during subscription. In 2025, KASE initiated implementation of tokenized asset trading. For the first time, KASE entered the Digital Asset ETF Sandbox, providing a regulatory framework for ETFs based directly on digital assets. KASE Clearing Center (KACC) also expanded into the OTC market as part of its efforts to develop new services and products. From 1 August 2025, KACC began providing CCP clearing and settlement services for OTC currency transactions executed on the NTPro platform. Under the IT infrastructure enhancement strategic direction, the KASE Group prioritized reliability, cybersecurity, and service continuity.

Project of the year: Successful launch of CCP clearing and settlement services by KACC for OTC foreign currency transactions on the NTPro platform

Event of the year: Kazakhstan Capital Markets Day 2025, held in London at at Bloomberg’s European headquarters

Change of the year: Transformation beyond a traditional infrastructure provider, delivering more client-oriented solutions and tangible improvements in service efficiency through the adoption of a product-based approach.

Accomplishment of the year: The assignment of a long-term BBB- credit rating with a stable outlook to KASE Clearing Center

Word of the year: Transformation

Person of the year: Ainagul Iskakova, Chairperson of the Management Board of KASE

Member of the year: "Standard Investment Company" JSC