The XI Congress of Financiers of Kazakhstan discussed the development of artificial intelligence and the introduction of innovations
On November 15, the XI Congress of Financiers of Kazakhstan was held in Almaty. Within the framework of the session "Innovation as the basis of sustainable development. Global change in financial markets" a discussion was held on the development of artificial intelligence and its application in the financial sector. The discussion was attended by the Chairman of the Agency Madina Abylkasymova, the Chairman of the Council of the Association of Financiers of Kazakhstan Elena Bakhmutova, as well as representatives of banks of Kazakhstan and Visa and Mastercard payment systems.
The participants noted the relevance of the development of artificial intelligence and joint actions for its implementation and regulation, since the financial sector today is the flagship of innovation.
As Madina Abylkasymova noted, at the same time, it is important to distinguish between the use of artificial intelligence and the transformation of business models of financial organizations. Kazakhstan is developing both banks that have switched to platform models and ecosystems with a business model in which they do not keep all transactions on their balance sheet, and financial institutions with a traditional bank-centric model that create their own financial ecosystems. At the same time, most large banks also have insurance organizations, asset management companies, and Fintech companies are actively developing now.
"Our task as a regulator is, first of all, to ensure compliance of financial organizations with international standards. In the banking sector – Basel III, in the insurance sector – IAIS, in the securities market - IOSCO," the head of the financial regulator stressed.
Bringing regulation to international standards will increase confidence in the financial system of Kazakhstan from rating agencies and consumers of financial services, as well as from foreign investors and ensure their entry into the Kazakh market.
Madina Abylkasymova also said that at the moment preparatory work has been completed on the introduction of consolidated supervision of banking conglomerates, which sets requirements not only for capital and liquidity, but also for corporate governance and risk management systems. This will reduce a number of risks associated with the transformation of banks' business models.
For the development of innovations, a legal environment has been created for the introduction of a regulatory sandbox, which allows financial institutions to test new technologies without being subjected to standard regulation. Measures have been implemented to allow banks to invest up to 10% of assets in IT and Fintech companies. Within the framework of joint work with government agencies, the possibility of access of financial organizations to state databases has been implemented.
The National Bank, together with the Agency, has created conditions for the development of Open API and Open Banking. In particular, a single platform has been developed for the accreditation of participants and obtaining customer consent.
"In turn, financial organizations are the flagships for the implementation of solutions based on artificial intelligence, whether it is working with clients, scoring models or chatbots for communicating with clients. As a regulator, we can promptly eliminate possible regulatory gaps or create additional incentives for the market. At the same time, there are no systemic risks when using AI for financial stability, but they may arise with a further increase in the volume of operations. We need to apply preventive and adequate measures to level them," Madina Abylkasymova said.
Thus, in order to reduce the risks of financial fraud, the requirements for information and cybersecurity of financial organizations have been significantly strengthened. In addition, a special Scilla application is used in the securities market, which uses artificial intelligence to process suspicious transactions.
"Financial organizations should also understand their responsibility and build systems for managing risks associated with the introduction of innovations. Then we will be able to find a balance in regulation," the head of the financial regulator summed up.
External Communications Division
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