Kazakhstan’s Financial Crime Risk Plummets: Ranked 73rd Globally in 2022

Kazakhstan Makes Significant Strides in Combating Financial Crimes

Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan - Kazakhstan has made a notable improvement in combating financial crimes, with its risk level plummeting to 5.08 according to the annual report of the Basel AML Index for 2020. This significant decline is reflected in the country’s ranking, which improved by 45 points compared to last year, marking its lowest individual risk score over the past three years.

Kazakhstan Ranks 73rd Globally in Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk

Kazakhstan now stands at 73rd place among 141 countries in terms of money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risk. Estonia ranks the lowest with a score of 2.36, while Afghanistan has the highest risk with a score of 8.16.

Comparison to Regional Neighbors

In comparison to its European and Central Asian neighbors, Kazakhstan’s financial crime risk is lower than that of Russia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine. The country’s improvement can be attributed to the effective work of state, law enforcement, and special bodies involved in combating ML/TF, as well as the adaptation of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards in Kazakhstan’s legislative acts.

Efforts to Combat Financial Crimes

The Kazakh Financial Monitoring Committee reported that its departments have focused on:

• Combating financial pyramids
• Suppressing fly-by-night firms
• Reducing cash withdrawals by 39 percent

The committee’s efforts will be further evaluated through a mutual assessment, which is scheduled to take place in 2021-2022.

The Basel AML Index

The Basel AML Index is the only independent, research-based index ranking countries according to their risk of ML/TF. It provides a comprehensive assessment of each country’s anti-money laundering and combating terrorist financing efforts.

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