Kazakhstan: Clearstream’s 57th market link
- Clearstream is the first ICSD establishing a link to Kazakhstan
- Indirect link via Citibank Kazakhstan JSC
- Citibank Kazakhstan JSC will act as local custodian and cash correspondent bank
Clearstream, the international central securities depository (ICSD) of Deutsche Börse Group, expands its international coverage by opening a new domestic link to Kazakhstan on 30 July 2018. The link will help foreign investors to access the local market and enables Clearstream to offer Kazakhstan government bonds and National Bank notes. Citibank Kazakhstan JSC, a subsidiary bank of Citibank, N.A., will act as local custodian and cash correspondent bank.
Kazakhstan is Clearstream’s 57th domestic link, offering a connection to the Kazakhstan market and affirming Clearstream’s leading position as an ICSD in terms of market coverage. The product offering will include internal free-of- and against-payment settlement in all settlement-eligible currencies, including Kazakhstani Tenge (KZT). Available services also include the external free-of-payment settlement with local Kazakhstan counterparties and custody and asset servicing for the securities, with full customer reporting.
Philip Brown, Co-CEO of Clearstream Banking S.A., said: “The new link to Kazakhstan is an important milestone as it follows Clearstream’s strategic aim to provide further access for our global customers to the Caucasus and CIS region. We are happy to partner with Citibank to connect the Kazakhstan market to Clearstream’s international settlement infrastructure.”
Andrey Kurilin, CEO of Citibank Kazakhstan JSC, said: Citi has been present in Kazakhstan for 25 years and this new milestone further demonstrates our commitment to this important market. We look forward to working with Clearstream and leveraging Citibank Kazakhstan JSC’s platform as a leading provider of custody services to facilitate investment flows in the country.”
The new link to Kazakhstan is also an important step for the National Bank of Kazakhstan. Daniyar Akishev, Governor of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, said: “Clearstream’s new Kazakhstan link is a major step for capital market development in our country. We are happy to continue to cooperate with Clearstream, and that the new link will connect European, international and domestic market participants at international standards.”
About Clearstream
As an international central securities depository (ICSD) headquartered in Luxembourg, Clearstream, a part of Deutsche Börse Group, provides the post-trade infrastructure for the Eurobond market and services for securities from 57 domestic markets worldwide. With 13 trillion Euros in assets under custody, Clearstream is one of the world’s largest settlement and custody firms for domestic and international securities.
About Citi
Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management. In 2018, Citi celebrates its 25th year of its presence in Kazakhstan, where, having formed capital exceeding the equivalent of US$400 million, the bank has become the leading non-commodities foreign investor. By the end of 2017, Citibank Kazakhstan JSC, a subsidiary bank of Citibank, N.A., had become the leader among tier 2 banks in terms of the volume of payment transactions and exchange currency-exchange transactions, in aggregate exceeding KZT30 trillion.