KASE Shares and Russian Funds: New Solutions Amid Restrictions

Russian Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) shareholders have transferred their shares from Specialized Depository Infinitum JSC to Raiffeisenbank JSC, Orda.kz reports.

In November 2024, Infinitum was included in the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions list.

Before that, in October 2024, 13.1% of KASE shares were transferred to Russian closed-end mutual investment funds Nigella and Levkoy, which were previously part of the Moscow Exchange.

The Moscow Exchange has been under sanctions since June 2024. 

Following this transaction, KASE Chair Alina Aldambergen expressed her intent to contact the new holders to learn who the ultimate owners of these shares are. 

However, the outcome of this request has not been disclosed. Russian law does not require closed-end mutual funds to reveal their shareholders, complicating obtaining such information. 

Raiffeisenbank, a trading member of KASE on the foreign exchange market since 2021, has been chosen as the new depositary. 

Additionally, the bank has been serving as a custodian for the Central Securities Depository of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIX) since 2020 and became a trading member of AIX in January 2025.

Original Author: Rustam Muratov