Principles of Corporate Governance

Development Bank of Kazakhstan strives to improve continuously the corporate governance system by conducting an appropriate assessment and implementing the best international practices in this area. With the resolution of the Sole Shareholder dated December 20, 2017 (Minutes No. 52/17) the Corporate Governance Code of Development Bank has been approved, which has been developed in accordance with the corporate governance standards of the Holding, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and reflects the principles of corporate governance, following which contributes to the achievement of the Bank’s strategic goals.

The fundamental principles of the Corporate Governance Code are:

• the principle of separation of powers;
• the principle of protecting the rights and interests of the Sole Shareholder;
• the principle of effective management of the Bank by the Board of Directors and the Management Board of the Bank;
• the principle of sustainable development;
• the principle of risk management, internal control and internal audit;
• the principle of regulating corporate conflicts and conflicts of interest;
• the principles of transparency and objectivity of disclosure of information about the Bank’s activities.

On October 3, 2023, the Management Board of the Bank made additions to the Regulation on Committees of Development Bank of Kazakhstan Joint Stock Company, approved by the decision of the Management Board of Development Bank of Kazakhstan JSC dated October 31, 2019. The functionality of the Change Management Committee (hereinafter - CMC) in the field of sustainable development was expanded. The CMC will approve proposals, recommendations in the field of sustainable development, including environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) and review the progress of measures to implement ESG principles.

The Bank also built an effective system of external and internal control, implemented by the Bank’s Internal Audit Service, by regular audits by independent audit companies of the Bank’s financial statements for compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). 

In order to ensure maximum transparency and validity of management decisions, the Bank adheres to the policy of improving the availability and quality of information on the activities of the Bank, which is reflected on the website of the Bank, domestic and foreign media.

A high level of corporate governance invariably demonstrates the effectiveness of the activities of any company. That is why the Development Bank is making every effort to further improve corporate and implement internationally recognized approaches in this area.

An independent diagnostic (assessment) of corporate governance at Development Bank of Kazakhstan JSC (hereinafter – the Bank) was conducted by KPMG Tax and Advisory LLP (hereinafter – KPMG) in the 2-3 quarters of 2023.

The assessment of the effectiveness of the corporate governance system at the Bank was conducted by KPMG in accordance with the current methodology for diagnosing corporate governance at the Bank, as well as according to the principles of corporate governance of the OECD.

Based on the results of the KPMG assessment, the overall indicator of compliance of the Bank’s corporate governance level with the requirements of best practice was 93.1%, the KPMG report was approved by the decision of the Bank’s Board of Directors dated October 6, 2023 (minutes No. 318-2023-16).

The previous diagnostic of corporate governance was conducted by the Bank's Internal Audit Service in 2021 (89.4%).