AIX (Astana International Exchange) has launched a number of innovative initiatives which may boost international investors’ level of confidence as the marketplace improves overall efficiency.
The operator has added Multi-Currency Settlement, which is available to Trading Members using the FIX protocol and all the data needed to use the service is displayed on the Market Watch page of the AIX exchange website. The service allows investors to trade securities listed in Kazakh Tenge (KZT)
and settle these trades in USD with the facility to add additional settlement currencies based on customer demand. The new service is set to provide a major improvement for institutional investors whereby their assets, whether cash or securities, remain at all times under the safekeeping of a Custodian who is a Participant of the AIX CSD.
AIX also made available Securities Lending and Borrowing – governed by the industry-standard Global Market Securities Lending Agreement (GMSLA) – to appointed Market Makers after being authorized by AIX Regulation & Compliance. The service may be used to prevent settlement failures. Market Makers entering into a valid GMSLA with an authorized lender will also be allowed to perform covered short-selling.
“Trading members will keep providing the trading service and will “giveup” the resulting trades to the Custodian who, upon confirmation from the customer, will “take-up” the trade and subsequent cash or securities settlement obligations. In the absence of a confirmation from the customer to its Custodian, the settlement obligation remains with the Trading Member”, according to the announcement.
Olivier Gueris, Chief Operating Officer of AIX, commented: “The new features go far beyond what is generally offered in frontier markets. The introduction of these initiatives will have a major positive impact on the liquidity of our market place while also helping to attract new institutional investors to AIX, based on their increased level of confidence that it is a safe and sound market through which to invest.”
Kazpost JSC and Renaissance Capital have recently joined Astana International Exchange (AIX) as trading members, which may lead to thousands of Kazakhstan and foreign investors accessing the AIX platform.
In June 2019 AIX deployed Nasdaq’s SMARTS Market Surveillance system for real-time surveillance and monitoring of market operations functions.
In late 2018, post-trade Infrastructure solutions developer Avenir Technology Limited has partnered with the Astana International Exchange (AIX) in Kazakhstan to provide support for securities registry, Central Securities Depository (CSD), and FIX trading and post-trade SWIFT messaging.
