The Management Board of the National Managing Holding «Baiterek» (hereinafter - the Holding), the sole shareholder of Development Bank of Kazakhstan JSC, made a number of decisions as part of the execution of the instructions of the Head of State to reform the activities of the Development Bank. At the meeting, issues were considered on introducing amendments to the Memorandum on Credit policy of the Development Bank, as well as to some regulatory legal acts of the Development Bank and its subsidiary Industrial Development Fund JSC, Delovoy Kazakhstan reports.
In particular, the Management Board of the Holding, headed by Kanat Sharlapaev, the Chairman, approved amendments to one of the main documents regulating the activities of the Development Bank - the Memorandum on Credit Policy. According to the amendments, when applying for funding, a potential applicant grants DBK the right to disclose information about all owners of a legal entity, including ultimate beneficiaries. Until now, DBK had the right to disclose information on the main terms of financing and general information on the project.
«Previously, the Bank did not receive such consent and within the law on the bank secrecy it wasn’t allowed to disclose information about the potential and existing customers. The implementation of this rule will allow us to be transparent at any stage of work with our borrowers - from the moment an application is received for consideration and until approval or refusal of financing» Ruslan Iskakov, the Chairman of the Board of Development Bank of Kazakhstan JSC
In addition, the changes have been made to the list of the sectors whose financing by the Bank is prohibited. From now on, financing will not be provided for the implementation of projects within the framework of the public-private partnerships, and also if fifty or more percent of the voting shares (participatory interests) of a legal entity directly or indirectly belong to the Republic of Kazakhstan due to their ability to attract financing directly. An exception can only be projects with the participation of other creditors, that is, with co-financing or syndicated financing from international financial institutions. Also, these projects will have to comply with the principles of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG).
«DBK will focus on the development of the private sector. We intentionally limit ourselves in working with the state-owned companies, since they have the opportunity to raise financing directly, without our participation” Ruslan Iskakov, Chairman of the Board of Development Bank of Kazakhstan JSC»
Another important change is that now the state property will not be accepted as collateral for the obligations of the private companies, and when selecting projects, applicants will be required to provide an action plan to increase the transparency of the procurement procedures within their projects.
Also, the Sole Shareholder approved amendments to the Charter of the Industrial Development Fund, a subsidiary of the Development Bank, due to which the functions of the Fund were significantly expanded. It should be noted, earlier the Fund carried out mainly leasing operations. Now its goal is to provide the financial support and stimulation of manufacturing enterprises, as well as assistance in attracting foreign and domestic investment in the economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Thus, the Fund will begin to offer a wider range of financial instruments to Kazakhstani enterprises, including direct lending.
