The Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market of the Republic of Kazakhstan has published its key priorities for bank sector supervision in 2026, setting out how it will implement the new Banking Law and reinforce risk management and prudential regulation. The programme is framed as a way to make supervisory actions more transparent and predictable for market participants. In 2026, rulemaking will focus on updating secondary regulations to detail mechanisms for adopting financial technologies, developing a differentiated system of banking licences and prudential requirements, expanding Islamic finance practices, strengthening a multi-level framework for crisis regimes and bank resolution tools, and improving corporate governance. Supervisory work will continue annual bank assessments under the SREP methodology with phased introduction of consolidated risk analysis at bank group level, alongside new cycles of asset quality reviews and supervisory stress testing; outcomes will feed into bank-specific supervisory capital add-ons to build additional buffers. The Agency also plans liquidity stress testing and a more systematic approach to model risk management, including risks linked to the use of artificial intelligence systems, while expanding SupTech tools and the FinAI Unified Supervisory Platform to deepen and speed up supervisory analytics. Cyber resilience is highlighted through planned testing of banks’ readiness for cyber threats and the introduction of ongoing supervisory “cyber support” to automate information security control procedures, with the relevant regulatory framework to be updated to reflect the Republic of Kazakhstan’s Digital Code; on consumer protection, the Agency intends to move to full conduct supervision, develop a unified approach to assessing conduct risks, and run pilot testing of a rating model to validate its practical use.

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