BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 5. Several companies are undergoing the licensing procedure at FinTech Lab, operating within the framework of the AIFC Astana International Financial Center Committee, Trend reports via the Director of FinTech department at the AFSA Astana Financial Services Authority Yagub Zamanov.
According to him, digital asset turnover is generally prohibited in Kazakhstan, apart from few exceptions, provided by Kazakhstan's legislation. The AFSA is one of the exceptions.
"Currently, more than 1,400 participating companies from 64 countries are registered at AFSA. Among them companies providing banking, insurance, investment, professional and other services. The financial regulator in this case is the AIFC Committee. AFSA is an independent regulator of the AIFC," Zamanov said.
He added, that for digital assets of AFSA a so called "regulatory sandbox" or FinTech Lab, which was created in 2018, exists.
FinTech Lab is a special environment in which companies can offer and test innovative financial services, as well as services related to regulatory technologies (RegTech), without becoming subject to the entire set of regulatory requirements.
"Twenty four companies are already licensed at FinTech Lab and more are currently undergoing licensing procedures. Participants are given 2 years to test their services and ideas, after which they can either get a full license from AFSA," the director said.
He stressed, that among the companies licensed in FinTech Lab there are also those that provide financial services with digital assets. Accordingly, AFSA acts as a regulator of this activity on the territory of the AIFC.