A SUPPLEMENT TO EUROMONEY/APRIL 1999: KAZAKHSTAN
Aiteke Bi 67 in Almaty, a C-block building which once housed the ministry of justice, is the nerve-centre of Kazakh capitalism. On the top floor is the National Securities Commission (NSC). The ground floor and basement contain the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), and Afinex, the foreign currency exchange, with which it has recently merged for the second time; and the central securities depositary. Sandwiched between all this are roomfuls of advisers working on projects funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
US taxpayers will be happy to learn that their tax dollars are still at work nurturing grass-roots capitalism in Kazakhstan. Grown men and women raised on Wall Street and the Chicago pits are devoting their lives to fostering a securities market, with the full paraphernalia of pension funds, joint stock company law, asset-backed securities, compliance and collateral management.
Despite a stock market turnover of almost zero - thanks to last year's Russia crisis - the work goes on. One hot project is a bond issue for Vita, a sunflower oil producer, 150% collateralized with warehoused oil stocks, discounted to yield 19%, in dollars.