Kazakhstani businesses may receive tax incentives for conducting IPOs on the domestic market. Authorities also plan to tie the size of the benefit to the share of shares in free float: the higher the free float and the wider the circle of shareholders, the greater the preference could be. This was stated at a round table on the discussion of the Capital Market Development Program until 2030 by Nurlan Tursynkhanov, Deputy Chairman of the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM), reports the website infohub.kz.
To simplify the IPO procedure, it is proposed to create a single window for preparing and submitting documents. In addition, when placing shares of Kazakhstani companies on foreign platforms, it is proposed to reserve part of the public offering for domestic retail investors.
In parallel, authorities propose three initiatives to prepare companies of various scales for listing – from large private businesses to small and medium-sized enterprises.
For large private companies, they want to create a unified IPO-readiness framework involving the ARDFM, exchanges, development institutions, and professional market participants. A special operator will coordinate this work, conduct a unified assessment of each company's readiness, and form an individual roadmap for it. At the same time, authorities expect to use the experience of preparing and conducting IPOs accumulated during privatization deals.
For small and medium-sized businesses, it is proposed to introduce an institution of accredited listing sponsors. They will accompany companies at key stages of entering the stock market – assess their readiness, help build corporate governance, coordinate the work of consultants, and help meet exchange requirements after listing. The sponsor will be responsible to the company, the exchange, and the regulator for the quality of the issuer's preparation.
Another proposal is the introduction of a non-public joint-stock company as an intermediate form between an LLP and a JSC. This form will allow growing companies to access instruments currently unavailable to LLPs – issuing shares, convertible instruments, and option programs – without the need to immediately transition to the requirements of a full-fledged joint-stock company.
At the same time, it is proposed to simplify corporate requirements for the new form and ensure a smooth and legally continuous transition from an LLP.
Earlier, Kursiv reported that National Company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ, a subsidiary of Samruk-Kazyna) will place its ordinary shares and global depositary receipts on the exchange of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIX), the London Stock Exchange (LSE), and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX).