The Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market of the Republic of Kazakhstan has adopted amendments to its rules on issuing, suspending and revoking licences for professional activities in the securities market, establishing a simplified procedure to grant the Central Depository a licence to provide custodial services. Under Kazakhstan’s Law on the Securities Market, the Central Depository is permitted to carry out custodial activity in the securities market provided it holds the relevant licence. The existing licensing rules already provide a simplified route for organisations that are already licensed for one type of professional securities market activity to obtain a licence for an additional activity, and the amendments apply an analogous simplified approach to the Central Depository, taking into account that it is a professional market participant and performs certain professional activities without a licence under Article 45(2-1) of the law.