Freedom Bank Kazakhstan enters Tajikistan market after acquiring license from local financial regulator

The Joint-Stock Company (JSC) Freedom Bank Kazakhstan has entered Tajikistan’s market after obtaining a banking license from local financial regulator.A subsidiary of Freedom Bank Kazakhstan obtained an operating license to carry out transactions in foreign and local currencies on October 15, says the press center of the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT).The NBT head, Mr. Firdavs Tolibzoda held talks acting chairman of the Board of the Closed Joint-Stock Company (CJSC) Freedom Bank Tajikistan, Mr. Dauren Nisinbayev.  The parties reportedly discussed the possibilities of expanding the scope of the bank’s activities, issuing loans, opening structural divisions in all the regions of the country and expanding digital services.In the course of the talks, Nisinbayev reportedly noted that Freedom Bank Tajikistan will take into consideration all opportunities, proposals and recommendations in order to take a worthy position in Tajikistan’s market of banking services. Meanwhile, kz.kursiv.media reported on October 15 that Freedom Bank announced its plan to enter the Tajikistani market in January 2024.  On April 12, the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) authorized the bank’s intention to establish a closed joint-stock company in Tajikistan.In August, the member of Freedom Bank’s Board, Mr. Aidos Zhumagulov, said that establishing a subsidiary in Tajikistan would allow Freedom Bank to scale up its experience and introduce digital financial products to the new market.  As he noted, the bank has done a lot by gathering various professionals into one team. Furthermore, Freedom Bank will be supporting the opening of an IT park in Tajikistan.According to Zhumagulov, the process of opening the new subsidiary was boosted by the effective work of Tajikistan’s national financial regulator. Freedom Bank is controlled by JSC Freedom Finance, a Kazakhstani broker that is the sole shareholder of the bank.  In turn, the brokerage company is a subsidiary of Freedom Holding Corp., which also includes various businesses such as Freedom Insurance, Freedom Life, Arbuz.kz, an online supermarket, and Aviata.kz, a flight ticket aggregator. Moreover, many other companies are developing under the holding’s umbrella brand: Freedom Drive, Freedom Mobile, Freedom Ticketon, Freedom Telecom and Chocotravel.   As of September 1, 2024, Freedom Bank was ranked the eighth-largest bank out of 21 commercial banks in Kazakhstan.  It reportedly has US$4.7 billion in assets, US$319.6 million in equity and US$45.8 million in profit.