AIX Presents its Results for 1H 2023

Astana International Exchange Posted

Astana International Exchange (“AIX”, “Exchange”) is pleased to present its results for the first six months of 2023.

The first half of 2023 has been characterized by stubbornly high inflation, raising interest rates and heightened uncertainties. Nevertheless, AIX has experienced a steady increase in trading turnover, rapid growth of the retail investor base and a firm  pipeline for various projects and issues.

Assel Mukazhanova, Acting CEO of the AIX, noted:

“Despite the challenges the global economy is facing nowadays, which includes the macroeconomic and geopolitical situation, we were able to demonstrate good results in the first six months of 2023. We’ve been focusing on the needs of our clients and working closely with all the stakeholders, and our efforts have been rewarded greatly. The ability to apply a tailor-made approach and respond quickly to market needs complemented by quick but compliant decision-making process made such achievements possible.”

AIX results as of 1 July 2023:

• The trading turnover in the first six months of 2023 increased by 82% and reached $140m vs $77m in the first half of 2022. The trading activity for the entire 2022 amounted to $173mln.
• The official AIX list includes 138 issues of securities of 92 different issuers.
• Debt capital raised since inception amounted to about $3.4bn; equity capital reached $356mln.
• 28 trading members, including brokers from Kazakhstan, China and European countries.
• investor accounts in the AIX Central Securities Depository (AIX CSD).

There has been a significant rise in the use of debt instruments. In the first half of 2023 alone $994 million was raised, which already exceeds the amount of debt capital raised in the entire 2022 ($722 million). The list of the issuers includes companies from various sectors, such as Citix Ltd, AltynGold PLC, Halyk Bank, KAZ Minerals Bozshakol LLC, etc.

Retail investor base

Over the past two years, we have seen an exponential growth in the number of retail investors opening accounts at the AIX CSD, with growth peaking in 2022. The number of investor accounts has increased more than sixfold since 2021 to nearly 900k accounts.

Given that in 2021 about 2% of economically active people in Kazakhstan had investment accounts in AIX CSD, in 2023 this indicator has reached 10%.

New instruments and services

BI Development, one of the largest developers in Kazakhstan, has become the first issuer to register Liquidity Management Program with AIX. The Program is designed to service funding needs within one group of companies enabling such companies to issue debt instruments within just a few days. NC Kazakhstan Temir Zholy has also successfully registered its own Liquidity Management Program.

International cooperation

• AIX has gained access to SWIFT using Alliance Cloud.  Alliance Cloud is SWIFT’s secure cloud-based solution built on Amazon Web Services, which allows seamless integration to the global SWIFT network. Access to Alliance Cloud provides AIX with multiple benefits including increased flexibility and scalability, lower operational risks and costs of hosting, and maintaining and upgrading core infrastructure components in a secure and resilient environment. It allows simplification and streamlining of the current payment transaction experience while complying with regulation and enforcement of financial industry standards.
• AIX has signed an Agreement with the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange on their respective brokerage companies’ remote access through the Tabadul Digital Exchange Hub. Tabadul is a full-fledged execution management system that aims to provide a trading network between exchanges in the Gulf region and now, the AIX. Tabadul will allow investments across AIX and ADX, and it will enable investors to trade directly through licensed brokers in both markets. The new digital exchange platform will be accessible to investors who have registered with eligible local brokers, provided that they meet all the requirements set by their local exchanges. Securities on Tabadul are traded in the local currency of the respective exchange with no minimum amount required for orders.
• AIX and Bitfinex Securities signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and agreed to establish cooperation in mutually beneficial areas. Bitfinex Securities is a platform for the listing and trading of tokenized securities licensed in the FinTech Lab by the Astana Financial Services Authority (“AFSA”). The Parties have identified several initiatives and shared goals for their collaboration, such as cooperation in the field of dual listing of fully fungible conventional and tokenized securities; establishment of post-trade links between their respective securities settlement systems; joint promotion of their efforts to establish efficient bridges between conventional and tokenized trading venues.