Financial center in Almaty within the next two-three years will be accomplished as a successful project, head of profile state agency is confident about

/INTERFAX-KAZAKHSTAN, Astana, September 14, 06/ - Regional financial center of Almaty (RFCA) within next 2-3 years will be accomplished as a successful project, Arken Arystanov, the chairman of the state agency on regulation activity of RFCA, is confident about. A. Arystanov reminded that the state agency leaded by him was legally founded on September 8. On September 18, he informed, the state agency plans to announce tenders for beginning of its activity. A. Arystanov noted that this day in Astana the first meeting of the international council of the state agency is held, which is the permanent acting consulting and deliberative body at it. As it is known, primary tasks of this council are elaboration of recommendations on use of world experience in development of RFCA, participation in forming the strategy of the financial center. Leading home and foreign experts, representatives of the state bodies of the republic belong to the council. The head of the agency said that in the course of meeting of the council, which will continue its work during the day, organizational issues are discussed. According to his data, out of allocated about KZT1.5 bn. (current 126.14/$1) budget funds for forming RFCA two thirds are assigned for decision of organizational issues, acquisition of a building, provide with necessary equipment, conducting PR-campaign, marketing work and payment for consultants' service. A. Arystanov noted that it was decided to hold meetings of the council quarterly. The next meeting is planned to be held on December 1 of the current year in Almaty, it will be timed to conducting at the same time the joint conference of RFCA and London stock exchange there. In inference to perspectives of the development of the regional financial center in Almaty, the head of the state agency said that initially financial products of RFCA will be presented on trading floor of Kazakhstan stock exchange (KASE), and later on an independent trading floor of the financial center will be formed. He emphasized that now biggest foreign institutions show interest to the work of RFCA, in particular, Russian investment group Renaissance Capital in the near future plans to open its representative office in Almaty. As it was reported, in June of this year the president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a law about the regional financial center of Almaty and the attendant legislation "About insertion of changes and additions in some legislative acts on matters of establishment of RFCA". The primary goal of indicated laws is the determination of the legal regime of activity of participants of RCFA. According to the document, a plenipotentiary state body is being set up for regulating activity of RFCA. Besides, a specialized financial court of the center is approved by the law about RCFA with an aim to consider disputes, effluent from civil, labor, administrative and other legal relations as the court of first instance. At that the law sets that the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan is the court of appellate and supervision instances for the specialized court of RCFA. Work on study of establishment opportunities of the regional financial center in Almaty started in 2003. Company Boston Consulting Group acted as the consultant of Kazakhstan government on project of establishment of the regional financial center in Almaty. RFCA will be set up in the form of special zone with a particular legal regime. At that, in contrast to existing special economic zones at present time in the republic RFCA will not have its well-defined territory. Territorial principle will be kept by the requirement for participants of RFCA about availability of an office on the territory of Almaty. Foreign citizens and people without citizenship, coming to the territory of Kazakhstan for fulfillment of activities in RFCA, will be getting the entrance visa at their arrival to the international airport of Almaty. At that, prolongation of period of validity of visas, and also change of categories of visas on one's application can be accomplished by the executing agency of RFCA without departure of this person outside of Kazakhstan. Participants of RFCA will get the opportunity to maintain procedures and conclude deals only in English, normative decisions of the executing agency also will be translated to English. It is planned that primary groups of players in RFCA, except broker-dealer organizations, will consist of issuers, investors and market makers. It is assumed that the Kazakhstan companies of big and small size, companies of medium size from Russia, Ukraine and Central-Asian region, Kazakhstan banks, brokers of RFCA on index funds and other securities, and also other foreign issuers will enter the list of potential issuers. According to expectations, Kazakhstan pension funds, unit funds, insurance organization, Kazakhstan banks and companies, Russian and other regional banks, other big and medium private investors, foreign investors, Islam investors will be the investors of RFCA. At the same time, partial reimbursement of expenditures for audit, depending on emission volumes, discounts for listing right up to zero level of listing value in the first year of work of RFCA, relief from collection for registration in RFCA are offered as the economic incentives for creation of attractive conditions for issuers. Tax control of participants of RFCA will be conducted only on the basis of tax accounts, approved by an audit report. More than KZT1.5 bn. (current 126.14/$1) is provided for establishment of the regional financial center in Almaty in the republic budget in 2006. With a view of successful founding of RFCA a special state agency of the republic was formed, which directly submits to the head of the state. Almaty, with the population of about 1.5 m. people, is the biggest city of Kazakhstan, until December 1997 it was the capital of the state. At present time central offices of practically all big commercial banks of the republic, the National bank, Kazakhstan stock exchange, other financial institutions of the country are located in this city. [2006-09-14]