Legislative News

This CLIENT UPDATE includes amendments to the legislation of the RK and key appointments in October 2009.

The following 447 legislative acts were adopted in October 2009:

•\tLaws of the Republic of Kazakhstan – 4

•\tDecrees of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – 2;

•\tResolutions of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan – 221 (14 of which have not been enacted );

•\tOther regulatory legal acts.

Most of these regulatory legal acts are concerning public sector, but among them there are some which may attract your attention and affect your business in Kazakhstan in a certain way.

We would like to draw your attention to the following regulatory legal acts:

Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 18 September 2009 № 193-IV «On Public Health and Public Health System» (effective from 09.10.2009)

Code regulates relations in the sphere of public health services and is aimed at systematization of legislation in the sphere of public health services, its harmonization with international norms and standards, promotion of the status of national medicine, improvement of quality of medical care and level of medical services to citizens, supply with high-quality medicines, medical devices and medical equipment.

Resolution of the Board of the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Regulation and Control over Financial Market and Financial Organizations dated 28 August 2009 № 196 «On Approval of Lower Limit of Reserve Capital of Second-tier banks » (effective from 11.10.2009)

Resolution was elaborated for provision of financial stability of second-tier banks and protection of their depositors’ interests. In this connection the approach on formation of minimum amount of reserve capital will be improved.

Resolution of the Board of the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Regulation and Control over Financial Market and Financial Organizations dated 28 August 2009 № 200 «On Amendments to the Resolution of the Board of the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Regulation and Control over Financial Market and Financial Organizations dated 25 February 2006 № 62 «On Approval of Rules on Maintenance of Securities Holders’ Register System » (effective from 21.10.2009)

This Resolution was elaborated for unification of standard forms of orders used by registrars under registration of client accounts’ operations as well as for updating of procedures of transaction registration in the securities holders’ register system.

Resolution of the Board of the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Regulation and Control over Financial Market and Financial Organizations dated 28 August 2009 № 198 «On Amendments to the Resolution of the Board of the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Regulation and Control over Financial Market and Financial Organizations dated 22 August 2008 № 131 «On Approval of Instruction on Standards Values and Calculation Methods of Prudential Standards of Insurance (Reinsurance) Organizations, Firms and Deadlines of Submission of Reports on Fulfillment of Prudential Standards » (effective from 21.09.2009)

The Resolution introduces amendments regarding: – single increase of the minimum amount of authorized capital of insurance (reinsurance) organizations; – phased increase of the minimum amount of guarantee fund of insurance (reinsurance) organizations from 1 April 2010 until 1 January 2012; – temporary (until 1 January 2011) decrease of rating requirements to second-tier banks for placing of deposits of insurance (reinsurance) organizations.

Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 2 October 2009 № 1520 «On Approval of Rules of Securities Issue for Circulation in the Local Market by Executive Body of the City of Republican Status, Capital»

In accordance with Rules securities can be issued by Issuer in book-entry form. Operations with securities (accrual and payment of remuneration) are made in national currency. Each issue has national identification number (NIN) given by authorized body in charge of state regulation and supervision over securities market in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 22 October 2009 № 1647 «On Approval of Rules on Determination of the Country of Goods Origin, Drafting and Issue of Act of Examination of Goods Origin, Execution, Certification and Issue of Certificate of Origin» (effective from 29.10.2009)

Rules establish procedure of determination of country of goods origin, drafting and issue of act of examination of goods origin and execution, certification and issue of certificate of origin of goods produced and sufficiently processed in accordance with criteria of sufficient processing of goods in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Resolution of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 9 October 2009 № 1553 «On Some Issues of Support to Entrepreneurs in the Sphere of Processing Industry and Solving of problems in the real estate Market» (effective from 09.10.2009)

In accordance with amendments nature of business of Distressed Assets Fund joint-stock company is defined as follows: 1) acquisition of classified assets of second-tier banks, mortgage security and assets management; 2) conditional investment of funds to the second-tier banks and financing of other financial organizations.

Resolution of the the Board of the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Regulation and Control over Financial Market and Financial Organizations dated 26 September 2009 № 215 «On Approval of Rules of Calculation of Prudential Standards for Organizations Combining Types of Professional Activity in the Securities Market » (effective from 05.10.2009)

Resolution was elaborated for improvement and updating of current provisions of resolutions. Requirements for allocation of assets to refined precious metals and metal deposits were specified and limit of petty cash fund admission as liquid assets was reduced from 10% to 1% from volume of assets in the balance sheet for optimization of investment risks of pension funds and organizations carrying out investment management of pension assets.

INTERNATIONAL LAW

Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of the French Republic on Provisions for Transit of Military Property and Staff through the Territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan in connection with Participation of Armed Forces of the French Republic in Efforts on Stabilization and Reconstruction of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (Astana, 6 October 2009)

Agreement specifies procedure of transit of military property and staff of the French Republic through the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan for support of international efforts on stabilization and reconstruction of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

Decision of the Council of Heads of Governments of the Commonwealth of Independent States On General Provisions on Bodies of Industrial Cooperation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (Kishinev, 9 October 2009)

These general provisions apply to bodies of the Commonwealth of Independent States established on the basis of agreements between states – participants of CIS on cooperation in economic, social and other spheres that develop agreed principles and rules of cooperation as well as facilitate their practical implementation.

Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Cooperation at the New Stage of National Development.

Government and UNDP will establish Strategic Advisory Council (hereinafter – Council) headed by the Ministry of Economy and Budget Planning. Council will consist of the representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UNDP. Representatives of other state bodies of the Republic of Kazakhstan can be invited to participate at the Council meetings if required. Council meetings will be held on a regular basis minimum once a year for review of directions of cooperation between UNDP and Republic of Kazakhstan, examination of received requests about cooperation with UNDP, determination of a list of priority projects for development and implementation as well as for annual appraisal of cooperation results.

(Approved by Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 26 October 2009 № 1681)

DRAFT REGULATORY LEGAL ACTS

Also we would like to provide additional information about forthcoming regulatory legal acts.

Draft Convention between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Avoidance from Taxation with respect to Income Tax

Draft Convention is applied to the following existing taxes:

a) in the Republic of Kazakhstan: corporate income tax, personal income tax;

b) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Zakat; income tax including investment tax for natural gas.

KEY APPOINTMENTS

The following appointments were made in October 2009:

•\tА.А.Smailov was appointed to the position of the Chairman of the Statistical Agency of Republic of Kazakhstan.

Nikola Sarkozy, President of the French Republic was awarded by Altyn Kyran order for significant individual contribution to strengthening and development of bilateral political, economic and cultural relations between the Republic of Kazakhstan and French Republic by Decree of the President dated 05.10.2009.

Information contained in this Client Update is of general nature and cannot be used as legal advice or recommendation. Please seek for a specific advice in relation to any questions. Please note that Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan are emerging economies and their legislation and legal systems are in constant development. Should you have any questions or would like to discuss subjects addressed in this Client Update please contact us.