[Ben] Kaz - Banks Banks Banks

OK, I better get started familiarising myself with the Kazakh banking sector due to my upcoming stint at Halyk Bank in their Almaty Headquarters.

Halyk bank is the third largest bank and has "already announced plans to sell at least a 25 per cent stake to an unnamed European bank by July." The market is highly sought-after:

Buying a Kazakh bank would be more convenient for a Western institution than building an operation from scratch. But pricing is hard, since there is no liquid market for banking shares.

In the other bank-related news from Kazakhstan:
First off, Nazarbaev and Putin announced the setup of a bilateral investment bank - surprisingly based not in Astana, but Almaty. The bank will dispose of $1.5 bn in authorised capital, and is designed to help implement joint Russian-Kazakh projects.

According to Euromoney, Kazakhstan has the "most dynamic development bank in the world".