We are pleased to announce that WOOD & Company has become a formal trading member of the Astana International Exchange (AIX). This is WOOD & Co.’s seventh exchange membership, along with the Prague, Budapest, Warsaw, Bucharest, Vienna and Ljubljana stock exchanges.
The AIX, founded in 2017 as part of the development of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) in Kazakhstan, is the first international exchange in Central Asia. The establishment of the AIX has opened up a large and promising Eurasian market to global investors, offering an attractive opportunity to invest in Kazakhstan assets and the industries that are key for the country’s economy. One of the AIX’s most important missions is to serve as the main platform during the ongoing privatisation process of companies held by the state-owned sovereign wealth fund, Samruk-Kazyna JSC. The fund consists of 160 small companies that are intended to be sold, mostly through electronic auctions, and 40 large assets, of which six are planned for IPO.
Commenting on the admission to the AIX, Vladimír Jaroš, WOOD & Company’s CEO said:
“WOOD & Co. professionals have been working with Kazakhstan’s market for nearly a decade, by providing research coverage of the country’s flagship stocks for international investors. Since we participated in the opening of the AIFC, our firm has been working towards becoming a member of the AIX and supporting its further development. We believe that the AIX is an important platform for the international investor community participating in Kazakhstan’s capital markets and helping the government fulfil its ambitious privatisation objectives. Together with the AIX, WOOD & Co. is keen to bring our expertise and strong investor relationships for the benefit of Kazakhstan’s privatisation programme.”
The AIX is part of a special jurisdiction regime, governed in accordance with English Common Law, which ensures a high level of transparency and corporate governance for issuers and market participants. The exchange is owned partially by the Shanghai Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, which also provides the AIX’s trading platform. WOOD & Co., as the leading broker in the Central and Eastern Europe emerging and frontier markets, will enable the AIX to promote Kazakhstan business opportunities by approaching its international investment community.
Tim Bennett, the AIX’s CEO, has highlighted the benefits of the partnership, saying that the
“AIX is very pleased that the products listed here and services provided would be even more accessible to the international community through WOOD & Co. We continue to work on attracting new brokers and issuers, to enable both parties to achieve their capital raising and investment goals. A deeper capital market will become a catalyst for the development of Kazakhstan's and the regional economy”.
