Tag Archives: banking

Rakishev takes KazKom stake

MARCH 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kenes Rakishev, a 35-year-old Kazakh businessman who is the son-in-law of the country’s defence minister Imangali Tasmagambetov, became a major shareholder in Kazkommertsbank, one of Kazakhstan’s biggest and most prominent banks.

Last year, in a deal with Kazkommertsbank, Mr Rakishev bought debt-ridden BTA Bank from the government.

Now he has swapped his stake in BTA Bank for a 16% stake in Kazkommertsbank. The manoeuvre is part of the merger of the two banks.

It also dilutes Nurzhan Subkhanberdin’s ownership of Kazkommertsbank. Mr Subkhanberdin is based mainly in London and has previously been linked to Kazakhstan’s opposition.
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(News report from Issue No. 221, published on March 4 2015)

EBRD increases funds in Tajikistan

FEB. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a boost for business in Tajikistan, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has agreed a $5m loan to AccessBank which specialises in lending to smaller companies, media reported. AccessBank was set up in 2010 by international lenders.
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(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)

Azerbaijani bank looks for sukuk

JAN. 13 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Highlighting the growing attraction of Islamic finance in the region, International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) said it wanted to raise $200m-$300m later this year through a sukuk. A sukuk is the name of an Islamic bond. IBA is a government owned bank. It raised $252m through a sukuk in 2014.

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(News report from Issue No. 214, published on Jan. 14 2015)

KazKom profit drops on BTA buy

DEC. 11 2014, (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Kazkommertsbank posted a drop in profit for the nine months to the end of September 2014 of 10% mainly due to its purchase of BTA Bank which has a large amount of debt, media reported. Analysts said that Kazkommertsbank bought BTA Bank for political rather than business reasons.

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(News report from Issue No. 213, published on Jan. 7 2015)

Azerbaijan’s Pasha Bank buys into Turkey

DEC. 30 2014, (The Conway Bulletin) — Pasha Bank, one of Azerbaijan’s biggest banks, has bought an 80% stake in Turkish bank TAIB for an undisclosed amount, media reported. The move by Pasha Bank shows the ambition of the Azerbaijani baking sector.

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(News report from Issue No. 213, published on Jan. 7 2015)

Bank of Georgia to buy PrivatBank

DEC. 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Bank of Georgia, which is listed on the London stock exchange and is the largest bank in the country, said it wanted to buy the Georgian subsidiary of Ukraine’s PrivatBank. PrivatBank is Ukraine’s largest bank. Bank of Georgia said that it had agreed a preliminary deal to buy the bank for $51m.

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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)

IMF cuts Kazakhstan economy growth

DEC. 9 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The IMF cut Kazakhstan’s growth rate for 2014 to 4.3% from 4.6% because of a slump in oil prices and the downturn in Russia’s sanction-hit economy. It also said Kazakhstan needed to cut more of its non-performing loans (NPLs) from its banking sector. Kazakhstan has one of the highest proportions of NPLs in the world.

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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)

Kazakh Halyk Bank profit rises

DEC. 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Halyk Bank, Kazakhstan’s second biggest lender, said profits for the first nine months of the year had risen by around two-thirds, mainly because of an increase in the number of loans it has given out. The results are good news for Kazakhstan’s economy which has been under pressure from falling oil prices.

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(News report from Issue No. 211, published on Dec. 3 2014)

Kazakhstan’s Alliance Bank completed debt deal

NOV. 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s Alliance Bank has completed a $1.2b debt restructuring deal and will now merge with Temirbank and ForteBank to become one of the biggest lenders in the country, Reuters reported. The government bought a stake in Alliance Bank in 2009. Temirbank and ForteBank are owned by billionaire Bulat Utemuratov.

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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)

Kazakh bank received negative ratings

OCT. 14 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Ratings agency Standard & Poors placed Kazkommertzbank, one of the biggest banks in Kazakhstan, on a negative ratings watch because of its purchase of BTA Bank. BTA Bank was bought from the government in what analysts have said was a political, rather than business, move. BTA Bank owned a large amount of bad debt.

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(News report from Issue No. 204, published on Oct. 15 2014)