President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Photo: akorda.kz.
Kazakhstan’s president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, has instructed the Agency for Financial Monitoring (AFM) to tighten oversight of illegal and suspicious transactions carried out by commercial banks. He made the remarks at a meeting with the agency, according to the Akorda press service. As an example, the president cited the actions of a bank through which a neighboring country transferred billions of dollars abroad.
“AFM Chairman Zhanat Elimanov recently reported to me on the actions of one of Kazakhstan’s banks, through which more than 7 trillion tenge—over $13 billion—were ‘channeled’ from a neighboring country to other states in 2025,” Tokayev said. “From the standpoint of the law, the economy, and even politics, this is, in my view, an outrageous fact.”
Tokayev added that there are still many cases involving fraudulent financial schemes. He did not name the bank involved or the country that used its services.
Political analyst Gaziz Abishev wrote on his Telegram channel that the reference could be to “very different neighboring countries,” and that the destinations for the funds could be even broader, including the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and others.
As for the bank mentioned by the president, Abishev suggested it is likely a “major player.” “Will it face problems with the Kazakh state or with other governments as a result? The issue was probably raised for a reason—either the Kazakh authorities themselves expect some reaction, or they are aware of a response from foreign authorities,” he wrote.
“Not bad—moving $13 billion. Someone earned a lot on commissions alone,” Abishev added.
