LEGISLATIVE NOVELTIES IN KAZAKHSTAN IN JANUARY-MAY 2023:
At the beginning of the 2023, the process of making important amendments to the financial legislation of Kazakhstan continued.
For the first time in the history of Kazakhstan, the law on digital assets was adopted, aimed at creating a legal framework for the development of activity for the issuance and turnover of digital assets and digital mining in the Republic of Kazakhstan. In addition, for the first time, amendments were made to the legislation of Kazakhstan, according to which, if the creditor (creditors) are unable to satisfy the claims of an individual who is not an individual entrepreneur, procedures for restoring solvency, extrajudicial or judicial bankruptcy are applied.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions, we will be happy to answer them.
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In this issue:
The Law on Digital Assets
On 6 February 2023, Kazakhstan adopted the Law "On Digital Assets in the Republic of Kazakhstan" (the "Law on Digital Assets"), which entered into force on 1 April 2023, except for paragraph 4 of Article 8 of the Law on Digital Assets. The Law on Digital Assets has great importance, as it establishes stricter regulation of the production and turnover of digital assets (including cryptocurrency) in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The adoption of the Law on Digital Assets may significantly affect the development of digital mining in the country, as the introduction of serious restrictions may lead to an outflow of digital miners from the Republic of Kazakhstan. At the same time, the Law on Digital Assets actually legalizes the activity of cryptocurrency exchanges, although not in the entire territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, but only in the territory of the Astana International Financial Center (the "AIFC"), while it is unclear whether market participants who are not AIFC participants will be able to make transactions on such exchanges and if so, what is the practical significance of such a distinction.
Changes related to mining activity
I - to a digital miner who has a digital mining data center with the right of ownership or other legal grounds;
II - to a digital miner who does not have a digital mining data center with the right of ownership or other legal grounds and carries out digital mining using the digital mining hardware and software complex owned by him, located in the digital mining data center[4].
Developed by: Marina Kahiani, Partner ; Zarina Kabashova, Associate; Aida Alimzhanova, Junior Associate, GRATA Internationa Kazakhstan.
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This information is provided for your convenience and does not constitute legal advice. It is prepared for the general information of our clients and other interested persons. This information should not be acted upon in any specific situation without appropriate legal advice.
We hope the review given above will be useful for you. Please feel free to contact us by finance_securities@gratanet.com if you have any questions or comments. We would be happy to get any feedback.
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[1] Paragraph 1 of article 3 of the Law on Digital Assets
2 Order of the Acting Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 26 April 2023 No. 166/NK On Approval of the Rules for Submitting Information on the Income of Digital Miners and Digital Mining Pools for the Purposes of Their Taxation
[3] Paragraph 2 of article 3 of the Digital Assets Law
[4] Article 9 of the Law on Digital Assets
[5] Paragraph 6 of article 8 the Law on Digital Assets
[6] Paragraph 5 of article 8 the Law on Digital Assets
[7] Paragraph 4 of article 8 the Law on Digital Assets