The Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) adopted a comprehensive Providing Money Services framework, introducing the AIFC Rules on Providing Money Services alongside consequential amendments to the AIFC General Rules, AIFC Glossary, AIFC Conduct of Business Rules, AIFC Banking Business Prudential Rules, and AIFC Rules on Digital Asset Activities, DKnews.kz reports.
Please note that the new Rules will enter into force in two phases:
- On 13 October 2025 for the provisions related to definitions, capital requirements and the use of digital assets in money services;
- On 13 January 2026 for the provisions on Client protection and cyber resilience.
The framework responds to the demands of a growing number of AIFC Participants providing money services as a primary activity — currently, ten authorised Money Service Providers (MSPs). It is designed to ensure a safe and secure environment for consumers while enabling the development of a competitive and innovative financial market. The new framework consolidates existing requirements into a single, clear and consistent rulebook, streamlining the regulation of money services.
A key feature of the framework is that it broadens the regulatory scope. The revised list of regulated money services now encompasses arranging currency exchange, providing or operating payment accounts, acquiring payment transactions, payment initiation services, and account information services. The framework also clarifies which activities fall outside the regulatory perimeter. These include technical support services like cloud infrastructure and identity verification tools, transactions between digital asset service providers (DASPs), including foreign DASPs, for liquidity purposes, and user-initiated transfers of digital assets between their own accounts, among others.
The framework also provides clarity on the perimeter of AFSA regulation. Once in effect, AFSA will regulate payment transactions using digital assets that function like traditional money services — such as digital asset remittances and acquiring. It will also cover non-custodial service providers with business models similar to payment initiation services, like MetaMask or Trust Wallet.
To reflect the growing use of digital assets, the framework introduces two ways MSPs can operate:
- Bridge model: the MSP handles digital assets in its own name—it sends, receives, or holds assets on behalf of clients but under the provider’s control.
- Direct model: The MSP acts like an intermediary — helping clients send or receive digital assets directly between Clients’ own wallets to or from wallets of MSP.
To strengthen consumer confidence, the framework introduces enhanced Client protection measures, including mandatory disclosures in Client agreements, refund provisions, liability for unauthorised transactions, and clear rules on the rights of recourse.
