Kazakhstan has elected a chief financial ombudsman — Mariya Khadzhiyeva, who will concurrently serve as financial ombudsman for the securities market, infohub.kz reports.
According to the press service of the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market, on September 30, at a meeting of the council of the financial ombudsman service, the chief financial ombudsman and ombudsmen for the banking, microfinance, insurance sectors and the securities market were elected.
Mariya Zhamalovna Khadzhiyeva was elected chief financial ombudsman and concurrently financial ombudsman for the securities market. She has many years of experience in regulation and supervision of the financial market. She worked at the Ministry of Justice, the National Bank and financial supervision bodies. In 2019–2025, she served as deputy chairwoman of the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market.
Ruslan Farkhatovich Ibragimov was elected financial ombudsman for the banking sector. He has a legal and financial education and experience working with problem loans in the banking sector. Since 2016, he has worked at the office of the banking ombudsman.
Nazgul Karasovna Yesteusizova was elected financial ombudsman for the microfinance sector. She has a higher economic and legal education and a master's degree in law. She worked in the banking sector, headed the National Chamber of Collectors of Kazakhstan and a social project to protect borrowers' rights. Since December 2024, she has been the microfinance ombudsman.
Kanat Tulegenovich Aligulov was elected financial ombudsman for the insurance sector. He has an economic and legal education and experience managing claims settlement and insurance payments divisions. He worked at insurance companies and participated in automating insurance claims settlement and developing digital client services.
"The unified financial ombudsman service will begin operations on January 1, 2027, combining the existing institutions of the banking, microfinance and insurance ombudsmen and extending the consumer protection mechanism to brokerage services. The financial ombudsman service faces the tasks of ensuring effective consideration of appeals from consumers of financial services, pre-trial settlement of disputes arising from financial products, and assisting in the settlement of debt of individual borrowers taking into account their financial capabilities," the statement says.
It is noted that priority areas of activity will be the digitalization of processes, the development of individual and collective debt settlement, including through the collective debt settlement platform Finkelisim.kz, as well as interaction with the "Qaryzsyz qogham" project.
At the same time, an important area of the service's activity will be the analysis of received and reviewed appeals to identify systemic problems and recurring practices of behavioral supervision entities, as well as the preparation of relevant proposals to improve mechanisms for protecting the rights of consumers of financial services.
Consideration of appeals from consumers of financial services is carried out free of charge.
Recall that in November 2025, it was reported that Kazakhstan was considering the introduction of a single financial ombudsman as part of a draft law on banks and banking activity.