Short answer: for most people, skip a Kazakh account entirely. The two names most foreigners actually want — Halyk Bank and Kaspi.kz — are listed in London and New York and reachable through any normal international broker. A local account is only worth the friction if you want KASE-listed lines unavailable offshore. If you do go local, the routes split on one question: do you need a Kazakh IIN (Individual Identification Number)? Bank-affiliated brokers require one; AIFC-licensed brokers don’t. And one broker to avoid: Freedom24 / Freedom Finance KZ (see below).
The easy route: buy the offshore listings (no local account)
- Halyk Bank (LSE: HSBK) — Kazakhstan’s largest bank, London GDR.
- Kazatomprom (LSE: KAP) — the world’s largest uranium producer; ~8% dividend yield, London GDR.
- Kaspi.kz (Nasdaq: KSPI) — the Kazakh fintech / payments super-app, US-listed.
- Steppe Cement (LSE AIM: STCM) — a rare pure-play Kazakh industrial.
- International Cement Group (SGX: KUO) — Singapore-listed, but Kazakhstan is its core market.
All of these need nothing more than your existing broker.
The local route (only for KASE/AIX lines you can’t get offshore)
The IIN is the gating requirement:
- Want a local account and willing to get an IIN: BCC Invest — large English-language bank brokerage, the most reassuring local custodian.
- Want a local account without an IIN: Teniz Capital (AIFC-licensed, retail access via the Tabys app) or SkyBridge Invest (wealth-management style, likely pricier).
Getting an IIN can be done three ways: in Kazakhstan (free, in person), at a Kazakh consulate abroad, or via Kazakhstan’s e-residency programme (~USD 499/year). AIFC-licensed brokers sidestep it entirely.
The broker to avoid
Freedom24 / Freedom Finance KZ — a career banker’s public account documented funds trapped inside Kazakhstan behind unending AML withdrawal demands. Full detail in the warning.
Full detail
The Kazakhstan country page has the full broker table (including the IIN column), the possible AIX-via-UAE route, and all sources.
Last updated 15 June 2026. Researched against broker sites; I hold an unused Freedom Finance KZ account but have not opened a local Kazakh brokerage account.