Kazakhstan may require foreign companies to use domestic banks

Kazakhstan may introduce requirements for foreign companies to use domestic banks for banking services and local insurers for insurance services, central bank chairman Grigoriy Marchenko said on Wednesday.

"There is a local content requirement. In other words, foreign companies operating in the mineral resource sector of Kazakhstan have to purchase a certain amount of products and services from domestic suppliers," Marchenko said at a press conference in Almaty. "The financial services should be treated the same."

Subsidiaries of foreign companies in Kazakhstan may be required to keep at least 25 percent of the money they deposit in banks in local lenders, according to Marchenko. Similarly, at least 25 percent of insurance premiums should be paid to local insurance companies.

Marchenko did not specify when the requirement would be introduced.

By SRI