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AFSA recognizes clearing participation certificates as a qualified investment instrument

The Kazakh regulator expanded the collateral asset base to simplify financial institutions’ access to short-term liquidity.

In brief
  1. AFSA approved the issuance of clearing participation certificates on the International Trading System Limited (ITS) platform.
  2. The instrument allows pooling disparate assets into a standardized pool for use as collateral.
  3. Financial institutions gain a new way to manage short-term liquidity through repo transactions.
AFSA recognizes clearing participation certificates as a qualified investment instrument

The Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) recognized Clearing Participation Certificates (CPC) as a qualified investment asset. The decision expands the collateral instrument base in Kazakhstan’s capital market and simplifies financial institutions’ access to short-term liquidity.

The decision to approve the new instrument was made on September 10 during the Astana Finance Days 2026 forum. The trading platform ITS will act as the CPC issuer.

The instrument’s mechanics solve the fragmentation problem. Financial institutions typically hold various asset types that are difficult to use as individual collateral. The certificates allow clearing participants to contribute these assets into a single segregated pool. In return, the participant receives a standardized certificate used in the money market to secure repo transactions.

Finteqstan previously reported that the AIFC agreed to cooperate with the South Korean financial center in Busan; now the regulator is taking the next step in developing internal infrastructure.

As AFSA CEO Evgeniya Bogdanova stated, introducing CPCs makes collateral more mobile. Financial institutions will be able to transfer and reallocate collateral faster, reducing the liquidity needed to support secured financing.

The certificate issuance is accompanied by protective mechanisms: AFSA established criteria for selecting underlying assets, valuation requirements, margining rules, and risk concentration controls.

Introducing a standardized collateral pool allows market participants to raise short-term liquidity without needing to split collateral for each transaction.

Sources