Development of sustainable development bond market: KASE and CAIER signed memorandum

Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) and Central Asian Institute of Environmental Research (CAIER) have agreed to develop the sustainable finance market in Kazakhstan by signing the memorandum.

The document provides KASE issuers with expert and advisory support on sustainable development issues and preparation of green, social and other ESG bond issues, including support for obtaining independent Second Party Opinion (SPO) on preferential terms.

As part of the new partnership, in 2026, KASE issuers will be able to receive free external SPO assessment services from CAIER, reducing barriers for companies entering the sustainable finance market.

The signing took place during a joint workshop on preparing for issue of green bonds. During the event, the participants reviewed the key stages of preparing an ESG bond issue, from developing the framework documentation and structuring the financial instrument to obtaining an independent SPO and issuing in accordance with Green Bond Principles of the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA).

Opening the meeting, KASE Chairman Adil Mukhamejanov noted that development of sustainable finance is one of the Exchange's strategic priorities. Currently, 49 sustainable finance instruments are listed on KASE, 19 of which are green bonds. The total volume of registered issues is 1.8 trln KZT, and the raised financing volume has exceeded 1.3 trln KZT.

CAIER founder Assel Tasmagambetova added that environmental issues are closely linked to economics and finance, and sustainable finance is becoming an important tool for implementing the environmental projects. She also noted that CAIER has been included into the ICMA's international list of external assessors and can now support companies at all stages of preparing the sustainable bond issues.

The practical portion of the meeting continued with presentations by experts from CAIER, Shoqan SDG and Teniz Capital Investment Banking, who presented real-life cases of preparing and issuing the sustainable bonds and shared the practical recommendations for structuring the issues and interacting with investors.

You can view the speakers' presentations by following the link.