Kazakhstan - The Banker

The Kazakhstan government is strongly promoting the development of Islamic finance in the country to diversify its financial sector, with strong support from Abu Dhabi. Writer Philip Alexander

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Rescue call: BTA had to be bought out by national wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna

Kazakhstan's banks are divided between those that are cash-strapped and looking at restructuring, and cash-rich survivors trying to find new lending opportunities. Writer Philip Alexander

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At the helm: Umut Shayakhmetova, CEO of Halyk Bank

In May, The Banker examined the fate of Kazakhstan's fallen giant, Bank BTA. The Kazakh banks that have stayed solvent now explain their recovery strategies. Writer Philip Alexander

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Two themes dominate the changes in this year's rankings compared with 2008. First, the heavy sell-off in the currencies of many central and eastern European countries, including Russia, Hungary and Ukraine, has reduced Tier 1 capital in dollar terms. Second, liquidity crises and the revelation of high non-performing loan (NPL) ratios on portfolios that had not previously been tested in an economic downturn has brought a number of banks close to collapse, knocking them out of the Top 1000 altogether.

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BTA Bank has been at the centre of a financial storm involving a state bail-out, Kazakhstan's real estate crash and rotating central bank governors. However the tools to stabilise the situation now appear to be in place. Writer Philip Alexander

Grigoriy Marchenko,
reappointed governor
of the National Bank
of Kazakhstan (NBK)

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Georgy Iosifyan, management board, BTA Bank

When the credit crunch struck, Kazakhstan was first hit and worst hit among emerging markets. Philip Alexander looks for signs of recovery.

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