/KASE, April 1, 08/ - Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) determined a list of the second tier banks - leading operators of the exchange foreign currency market in Kazakhstan for March 2008, using a new ranking methodology.

In March 25 second tier banks participated in deals on KASE. Below is the table with the 10 most active KASE category "B" members (headquarters of the banks mentioned in the table are all located in Almaty).

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    Rank:                                              Activity    Calculation
---------                                             indicator      basis Ka:      
Mar   Feb Company short name                                    --------------
2008 2008                                                  (Ka)    V    N    D
---- ---- ------------------------------------------- --------- ---- ---- ----
   1    2 Nurbank JSC                                      2.60 1.00 0.89 1.00
   2    1 Kazcommertsbank JSC                              2.30 0.60 1.00 1.00
   3    4 Alliance Bank JSC                                2.26 0.65 0.90 1.00
   4    3 DAB ABN AMRO Bank Kazakhstan JSC                 2.08 0.52 0.85 1.00
   5    8 Citibank Kazakhstan JSC                          1.52 0.15 0.64 1.00
   6    5 BTA Bank JSC                                     1.51 0.18 0.60 1.00
   7   11 Halyk Savings Bank of Kazakhstan JSC*            1.50 0.46 0.31 0.95
   8   12 Eurasian Bank JSC"                               1.14 0.04 0.34 1.00
   9    9 Kazinvestbank JSC                               1.091 0.05 0.26 1.00
  10    6 Subsidiary Bank of HSBC Bank Kazakhstan JSC     1.086 0.08 0.23 1.00
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* Market maker on the US dollar on KASE

The newcomers of the "active ten", compared with February 2008, are Halyk Savings Bank of Kazakhstan JSC and Eurasian Bank JSC, which replaced BANK CASPIAN JSC (the seventh rank in February) and ATFBank JSC (the tenth rank in February).

Below is the table of the most active KASE category "B" members in the sector for the three initial months of 2008. During the period, 26 second tier banks participated in the deals.

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                                             Activity    Calculation
                                            indicator       base Ka:
                                                      --------------
Rank Company short name                          (Ka)    V    N    D
---- -------------------------------------- --------- ---- ---- ----
   1 Nurbank JSC                                 2.43 1.00 0.70 1.00
   2 Kazcommertsbank JSC                         2.35 0.66 0.99 1.00
   3 DAB ABN AMRO Bank Kazakhstan JSC            2.22 0.54 0.98 1.00
   4 Alliance Bank JSC                           2.02 0.53 0.78 0.98
   5 BTA Bank JSC                                1.58 0.31 0.54 0.98
   6 Subsidiary of HSBC Bank Kazakhstan JSC      1.48 0.30 0.42 1.00
   7 Citibank Kazakhstan JSC                     1.45 0.17 0.53 1.00
   8 BANK CASPIAN JSC                            1.37 0.39 0.26 0.93
   9 Halyk Savings Bank of Kazakhstan JSC        1.35 0.37 0.28 0.92
  10 Kazinvestbenk JSC                           1.15 0.09 0.29 1.00
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KASE draws attention to the fact that the activity ranking of operators of the exchange foreign currency market, provided in the tables, is calculated on the basis of a new methodology. The methodology text will be published at the exchange website soon.

The core of the methodology is the following. The rank of the bank is determined by the value of a so-called activity indicator (Ka), which is calculated for each member of the Exchange. The first rank corresponds with the maximum Ka value.

This indicator for operators of the foreign currency market is calculated on the basis of the formula Ka = V + 0,9*N + 0,8*D, where:

V - is the indicator of the volume of the deals in foreign currency, concluded by the rated exchange member during the analyzed period on the currency market of KASE; V = Vi / Vmax, where Vi - is the volume of the deals, concluded by the rated bank during the period, Vmax - is the maximum volume of the deals, concluded by any KASE category "B" member during the same period (without account of the deals of the National Bank);

N - is the indicator of number of the deals in foreign currency, concluded by the rated exchange member during the analyzed period on the currency market of KASE; N = Ni / Nmax, where Ni - is number of the deals, concluded by the rated bank during the period, Nmax - is the maximum number of the deals, concluded by any KASE category "B" member during the same period (without account of the deals of the National Bank);

D - is the indicator of the resultant days for the rated exchange member in the analyzed period (the day is considered to be resultant, if at least one deal in foreign currency was concluded by the rated exchange member on the currency market of KASE); D = Di / Dmax, where Di - is a number of resultant days in respect of the rated exchange member, D(max) - is the maximum number of the resultant days, registered during the analyzed period in respect of any KASE category "B" member;

The indicators Vi, Ni, Di, Vmax, Nmax, Dmax are specific values, which means they are calculated as the ratio of the volume of deals (number of deals or number of resultant days) to the number of the days in the analyzed period, during which this trade participant was acting as an exchange member of this category. Thus, dependence of the indicators value on the duration of operation of the rated KASE member on the Exchange is being leveled.

At the same time, not all KASE category "B" members are ranked. To be ranked, a bank must be a KASE member of the indicated category for at least 70 % (according to the calendar days) of the analyzed period, in case the period does not exceed one month, and at least 50 %, if a longer period is being considered.

[2008-04-01]