Staff of the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) has for the first time presented its regulatory approaches to Crypto and Digital Asset markets to the members of International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO)[1]. The training was conducted within the 26th edition IOSCO Seminar Training Programme: “Regulation and Supervision of Crypto and Digital Assets Markets.”
AFSA’s FinTech Director Yagub Zamanov shared the history and milestones of the development of the regulatory framework for digital assets at the AIFC, starting from the establishment of a FinTech Lab[2] and the continuous growth over the following years within which AFSA became an IOSCO associate member, agreed with national regulators to launch a pilot project testing fiat gateways between AIFC’s digital assets exchanges and commercial banks of Kazakhstan that consequently resulted in the Rulebook on Digital Assets Activities and the Rules governing interactions of Digital Asset Service Providers and commercial banks of Kazakhstan.
Yagub also shared tips on how to tackle key challenges in developing Crypto and Digital Assets policy and using blockchain analytics tools.
AFSA’s continuous engagement with and supervision of entities in the regulatory sandbox allowed to launch new initiatives such as the OTC[3] Guidance and the Stablecoins Framework allowing the issuance of fiat stablecoins pegged to G10 currencies and any other currency approved by AFSA.
In March this year AFSA issued a call on Digital Assets Services Providers to test out new products, including activities involving margin trading, peer-to-peer, derivatives trading, staking, non-fungible trading, digital asset loans and other services.
It is important to note that throughout AFSA’s work it is guided by the three core IOSCO objectives – investor protection, ensuring fairness, efficiency, and transparency of markets as well as reducing the systemic risk.
AFSA is a signatory to IOSCO Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding and IOSCO Enhanced Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding.
Reference:
The Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) is the independent regulator of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), which is established in accordance with the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On the Astana International Financial Centre” for the purposes of regulating financial services and related activities in the AIFC. AFSA administers the AIFC Regulations and Rules and is responsible for the authorisation, registration, recognition and supervision of financial firms and market institutions in the AIFC.
Over 3000 firms from 82 countries are registered in the AIFC. These firms provide banking, insurance, investment, professional and other services. The range of financial services offered at the AIFC is comparable to the list of services available in long-established financial centers of the world, such as London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai and others. www.afsa.kz
The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) is an independent jurisdiction with a favourable legal and regulatory environment and a developed infrastructure for starting and doing business, attracting investment, creating jobs and developing Kazakhstan's economy. https://aifc.kz/
Contact information:
Public Relations and Communications Division of AFSA: +7 (717) 264 73 43; +7 7172 61-37-45 email: [email protected]
[1] IOSCO is the international body that brings together the world's securities regulators and is recognized as the global standard setter for financial markets regulation. IOSCO develops, implements and promotes adherence to internationally recognized standards for financial markets regulation and works closely with other international organizations on the global regulatory reform agenda.
[2] FinTech Lab is a tailored live environment, where firms can offer innovative financial and RegTech services without being immediately subject to the full set of regulatory requirements.
[3] In decentralised finance, Over-the-Counter trading is considered as a separate trading option widely used for large undertaking or transaction by large or institutional players because OTC transactions allows to discharge large volumes of Digital Assets quicker and in large blocks.
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