In a media interview, the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market of the Republic of Kazakhstan outlined how Kazakhstan’s new banking legislation introduces an “Islamic window” model that allows conventional banks to provide Islamic banking services with a separate licence, aiming to move the market from reliance on stand-alone Islamic banks toward broader integration of Islamic products into the existing banking system. The deputy chair linked the historically limited scale of Islamic finance to an institutional model under which only dedicated Islamic banks could offer services, despite a legal framework in place since 2009. The Islamic window approach is presented as lowering market-entry barriers by letting banks use existing infrastructure such as branch networks, digital channels, IT systems and customer bases. The interview also highlighted new risk management requirements that formally introduce the concept of Sharia non-compliance risk and require banks to implement internal control procedures, including compliance oversight and internal audit units focused on Islamic finance principles. Sharia Councils are positioned as a central governance element, with responsibilities including reviewing Sharia conformity of operations and internal documents, monitoring compliance, assessing audit results, recommending remediation, and supporting IT development to enable separate accounting for Islamic and other assets and liabilities; requirements for council members’ professional qualifications, independence and governance role have been strengthened. As context, the deputy chair cited international experience and noted that, under effective regulation, Islamic assets can reach 10–20% of banking sector assets, and referenced the global Islamic finance market as exceeding USD 3 trillion.

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