The Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) has identified key priorities for supervisory activities in 2026. The main vector of work will be changing the regulatory framework. The agency will develop 82 new regulatory legal acts (RLAs) and transition the industry to a differentiated control model. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
As part of the implementation of the new Law on Banks, the ARDFM will reissue licenses of all existing financial institutions to a universal banking license.
"Reissuance is necessary to bring permit documents in line with the requirements of the updated legislation and is aimed at ensuring a unified legal regime for the functioning of second-tier banks under the new regulatory model," the statement said.
For organizations that receive only a basic license, the regulator will set strict limits on the maximum size of assets and the volume of deposits attracted from individuals.
The process of implementing 82 RLAs is divided into three stages. At the first stage, 68 acts have been developed and adopted. At the second stage, 12 documents regulating the resolution of insolvent banks, behavioral supervision, and the work of the financial ombudsman will be approved. At the third stage, the adoption of two acts establishing requirements for the formation of data showcases is expected.
The ARDFM will introduce a system of anti-crisis regimes for financial institutions experiencing problems. To implement this mechanism, nine specialized RLAs will be adopted. If it is necessary to launch state investment projects to rescue banks, reimbursement of state costs will be made through mandatory contributions from market participants themselves. The size of this burden is legally limited to 0.2% of the total liabilities of the banking sector.
For banks with a universal license that implement Islamic financial products, separate prudential requirements will be introduced. The minimum volume of assets allocated for conducting Islamic operations is fixed at no less than 1 billion tenge. To ensure compliance control, the regulator will oblige banks to form a specialized Council on the Principles of Islamic Finance.
A joint resolution of the ARDFM and the National Bank will approve the rules for working with digital financial assets. Transactions with them will be allowed only through regulated platforms. When calculating prudential standards, the maximum risk per borrower will be taken into account, considering their positions in digital assets.
Significant changes will also affect the system of regular asset quality review (AQR). In 2026, the ARDFM will optimize this process by introducing artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and big data analysis tools for automated reporting processing. At the same time, uniform standards for managing AI model risks will be developed, and the supervision methodology will be adjusted taking into account the results of the SREP review for 2025.
Recall that in 2025, Kazakhstan's financial sector developed under conditions of ongoing external uncertainty and increased volatility in global markets, while the key internal factor remained inflationary pressure. In these conditions, the Agency's activities were aimed at ensuring the stability of the financial system, strengthening the protection of consumer rights of financial services, developing a competitive environment and increasing the transparency of the financial market, as well as further developing regulatory and supervisory practices.