Recognition

A Person located in a jurisdiction other than the AIFC may apply to AFSA for an order declaring it to be a Recognised Non-AIFC Member (RNAM), Recognised Non-AIFC Market Institution (RNAMI) or a Foreign Fund Manager. Recognition will enable financial market infrastructures (trading platforms and clearing and settlement institutions),qualified potential market participants (brokers) and foreign fund managers to be recognised to carry out their activities in the AIFC without having to establish a physical presence in the AIFC.

How to apply:

1. Contact Participant Support & Sales team of AIFC Authority

We recommend to contact the Participant Support & Sales team of AIFC Authority, who are at hand to support and guide organisations through the processes of authorisation and registration.

You may contact them via [email protected] or receive detailed information via +7 7172 959 000.

2. Prepare to apply

Familiarise yourself with the applicable AIFC Rules and Regulations and be prepared to show how you comply with them. The AIFC Rules and Regulations can be found on our website at Legal Framework section.

According to section 91(3) of the AIFC Financial Services Framework Regulations, the AFSA may issue an order declaring an applicant to be a Recognised Non-AIFC Member if:

(a) the applicant is licensed or otherwise authorised to trade on or use the facilities of an exchange or clearing house in a jurisdiction acceptable to the AFSA;
(b) the applicant is regulated in respect of trading in such jurisdiction by a regulator to a standard satisfactory to the AFSA;
(c) the law and practice under which the applicant is licensed or otherwise authorised is broadly equivalent to the AFSA’s regulatory regime as it applies to a Member.

For the purpose of these provisions, the following jurisdictions are considered broadly equivalent to the AFSA’s regulatory regime:

• The Russian Federation,
• The United States of America,
• Singapore,
• The United Arab Emirates,
• Qatar,
• The People’s Republic of China,
• Malaysia,
• The European Union,
• Bahrain,
• Georgia,
• Cayman Islands,
• Egypt,
• The United Kingdom,
• Oman,
• The Netherlands,
• India,
• Turkey.

This list is subject to extension, pending AFSA’s approval of additional jurisdictions deemed broadly equivalent.

As outlined in the “Notes for completing this form” section of the application, applicants incorporated and authorised in jurisdictions not included in the list above must complete Annex 2 of the application. Alternatively, applicants may submit, and the AFSA may additionally require a legal opinion on the equivalency assessment between jurisdictions. This legal opinion must be provided by a law firm that is either:

• An Ancillary Service Provider authorised to Provide Legal Services in the AIFC, or
• Recognised by Chambers Global, Legal 500, or IFLR 1000.

3. Complete the Application form

It is vital that you supply all relevant information. Openness and honesty are essential. Should we need to examine your application more closely because of any disclosures you make, this will not necessarily count against you. However, deliberately withholding information or providing false or misleading information will adversely impact the success of your application.

Recognised Non-AIFC Members

Once you have decided to apply for the recognition process, you can apply on a paper-based form via [email protected] or online via our Self-service Portal.

3.1. Recognition on a paper-based form

To initiate the recognition process on a paper-based form, please submit the completed applications below to [email protected].

Recognition Non-AIFC Member application fee is 2000 USD.

3.2. Online recognition

To start using the portal all you need is to follow these 4 steps:
1)  Open the Portal;
2)  Register on the portal using a valid email address, upon provision of necessary information, please verify your account by clicking the link sent to the provided email address;
3)  Login to the portal and click the “New application” button;
4)  Choose ‘Authorisation’ in the menu and within it choose ‘Recognition Non-AIFC  Member (RNAM) application’.

Once an application is ready (all sections will be colored in Green), you can submit it to AFSA via the Self-service portal. For the submission of an application, you need to make an offline payment using the banking operator services and upload a payment confirmation to submit the application on the portal.

Recognition Non-AIFC Member application fee is 2000 USD.

Applicable AIFC Rules and Regulations for RNAM:

• AIFC Recognition Rules, Chapter 2: Recognised Non- AIFC Member; Schedule 1 & 3 (AIFC Recognition Rules);
• AIFC Financial Services Framework Regulations, Part 6: Capital Markets, Chapter 10 – Recognition, Article 91. Reconigsed Non-AIFC Member (Recognised Non-AIFC Member (orderly.kz)).

Recognition as a Foreign Fund Manager

A Foreign Fund Manager is permitted to manage a Domestic Fund in accordance with AIFC CIS Rules, and if the Units of such Fund are Offered in the AIFC, then it must be an Exempt Fund as defined in AIFC CIS Rule 2.2(a).

Once you have decided to apply for the recognition process of Foreign Fund Manager, you can apply on a paper-based form via [email protected] by submitting the completed applications below.

Application forms: 

List of supporting documents

• Letter of good standing from home regulator
• Copy of current regulatory licence
• Documentation regarding the comparative gap analysis of home jurisdiction’s regulatory regime in relation to Funds and Fund Managers compared with that of the AFSA
• Appointed Fund Administrator Agreement
• Appointed Eligible Custodian Agreement

Recognition as a Foreign Fund Manager application fee is 2000 USD.

Applicable AIFC Rules and Regulations for Foreign Fund Managers:

• AIFC Collective Investment Scheme Rules (CIS) – ongoing requirements for Funds and Fund Managers in the AIFC;
• AIFC Collective Investment Scheme Rules, Chapter 4. Registration and Notification Requirements (REGISTRATION AND NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS (orderly.kz));
• AIFC Collective Investment Scheme Rules, Schedule 3: Acceptability assessment (SCHEDULE 3: ACCEPTABILITY ASSESSMENT (orderly.kz));
• AIFC Collective Investment Scheme Rules, Chapter 8.2 Additional Service Providers (ADDITIONAL SERVICE PROVIDERS (orderly.kz)).

* Please note that the application package should be submitted along with the evidence of payment. When the application is ready for submission, please send us a completed request for invoice (please follow the link to download the document) and after that we will issue the invoice for payment. If the payment to be made by a natural person, then please provide a copy of his/her ID as well. 

4. Application processing

A successful application will result in the AFSA issuing you an order declaring a Person to be a Recognised Non-AIFC Member or a Recognised Foreign Fund Manager. Before making an order, the AFSA will need to be satisfied that the applicant meets the requirements for recognition in Section 91 of the AIFC Financial Services Framework Regulations for RNAMs, and Section 1.5 of the AIFC Collective Investment Scheme Rules for Foreign Fund Managers.

5. Currency Regulation

Please note that the AFSA and the National Bank of Kazakhstan have signed Rules on Currency Regulation and Provision of Information on Currency (“the Rules”). The Rules, amongst other things, detail the list of the financial services that AIFC Participants can provide to residents of the Republic of Kazakhstan, that are not AIFC Participants. It also includes details of when and how AIFC Participants can transact business in the local currency (Tenge) or foreign currency. Please familiarize yourself with the Rules and how they might apply to your business going forward.

6. How to contact us

Please feel free to contact us through the following email: [email protected].
For technical queries of AIFC Self-service Portal please contact us through the following email: [email protected] or send us a message in Live chat of AIFC Self-service Portal.