Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has far-reaching consequences for Uzbekistan’s privately owned Hamkorbank. The bank had just pulled through the pandemic when it had to take a hard look at exposure to Russian trade and the rouble. 

Uzbekistan promises to transform its stock and bond markets in an effort to lure much-needed capital from abroad. Roadshows, tax cuts and easing of restrictions are on the agenda as Tashkent prepares to sell off state assets. 

The merger of Credit Bank with TransBank offers a template for Mongolia’s financial industry, which is ripe for more consolidation and better governance.

Alfa Bank has married its SME focus and its digital ambitions to much success in Kazakhstan, but will its business model be enough to ward off the competition?

The community of economies going green in a hurry has the unlikeliest of new members: coal-addicted Mongolia. Can the country shed its past?

Since Kazakhstan left the Soviet Union and embraced capitalism, its banks have been locked in a boom-bust cycle, but a banker who lamented the passing of Communism has emerged as the industry’s leader. Now Halyk Bank’s Umut Shayakhmetova faces what could be her biggest test yet.

Government officials and bankers see the Covid-19 crisis as an opportunity to overhaul energy policy and expand the range of financing options available for the country’s infrastructure needs.

The country’s government is talking a big game about opening up – but how likely is real change?

Home Credit proved to be one of Kazakhstan’s savviest and most agile banks during the pandemic, thanks to the digital transformation that it embarked on less than three years ago. Rivals have some doubts – but the shift to digital appears to be paying off.