The amendments take effect from 1 January 2024 and mainly include amendments to supervision fees and fees payable to the Registrar of Companies and provide greater clarity on the application of the fees.
New fees have been introduced with regards to the development and enactment of several frameworks from 2024 onwards. They include the Digital Assets Service Providers (DASP), the Digital Assets Trading Facility (DATF), the Stablecoins and the Security Token Offering (STO) Frameworks. The annual supervision fee for the DATF Operators, which have been working within the FinTech Lab regime only, has therefore been revised by decreasing the fixed fee and introducing a variable component proportionate to market performance.
The changes have affected FinTech Lab Participants, which will be required to start paying the full supervision fee in case of extending their FinTech licence beyond two years of its issuance. AIFC Rules provide for the issuance of a FinTech Lab licence for two years.
The annual supervision fee for the Market Activity of Operating a Clearing House now covers the clearing value component. Also, relevant adjustments have been made to the annual recognition for a Recognised Non-AIFC Clearing House Operator accordingly.
Other amendments include changes on application fee of licence modification, providing clarifications on calculating supervision fees, additional application and supervision fees payable to AFSA and the Registrar of Companies as well as other technical revisions.
In 2022, AFSA commenced to charge supervision fees for Regulated, Market and FinTech Lab Activities in the AIFC. Over the course of 2023, AFSA has received various comments and queries regarding the application of fees in the AIFC, which have highlighted the need of amending certain parts of fees and greater clarity in the calculation of fees.
AFSA Chief Executive Officer Nurkhat Kushimov: “The amendments are a result of two public consultations with the industry and extensive coordination work with our participants. Our objective is to have an approach that would be proportionate to various firms wishing to test out new business models and solutions while remaining committed to the highest regulatory standards. As such, the new amendments reflect continued development of the regulatory ecosystem at AIFC, its more complex and refined approaches.”
The full package of changes to the AIFC Fees Rules may be found via the link.
The amendments will be effective from 1 January 2024.
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 2,300 firms from 78 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]
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