Kazakhstan Stock Exchange: How Stock Trading Started in the Former Soviet Republic
In 1993, 2 years after independence, Kazakhstan introduced the national currency, the tenge. At the same time, the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange has been launched in the country. Since then, this trading platform remains the main for trading stocks.
Kazakhstan Stock Exchange: a difficult history of the country’s main investment platform
The date of creation of both tenge and stock exchange is November 17, 1993. The emerging platform replaced the Center for Interbank Foreign Exchange Transactions.
A month later, the Kazakhstan stock exchange was established at a legal level, as a closed society.
Over the next two years, the platform changed its name more than once. In 1994, it was renamed “Kazakhstan Interbank Currency Exchange” to bring the name into compliance with legal regulations. A year later, she received her current sign – Kazakhstan Interbank Currency and Stock Exchange. The reason for the next shift was the desire of shareholders to develop on the securities market.
Already in 1995, the exchange received a license to conduct exchange activities in the field of securities, but at first, had the right to trade only government shares.
After another year, the platform changed its name again and returned to the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange signboard. This decision was caused by the violation of laws that prohibited the stock exchange to perform the functions of a commodity.
From that moment on, there seemed to be a certain calm in the work of the site. In November, she received an already unlimited license from the National Securities Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
However, the local law “On the Securities Market” tied the exchange to its hands, forcing it to trade only securities. The solution was found a year later.
In March 1997, the exchange was reorganized and became a separate legal entity of the closed joint-stock company “Almaty Financial Instruments Exchange” (AFINEX).
Already in summer, the site underwent another re-registration, and in September, AFINEX conducted operations with foreign currencies and futures contracts.
In the summer of 1998, the Law “On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Joint Stock Companies” removed the ban on the stock exchange to organize trading in foreign currencies and other financial instruments, except for securities. In this regard, the site was able to finally join AFINEX to itself and begin full-fledged work.
