ForteBank JSC (the Management Board is located at: 8/1, Dostyk str., Nur-Sultan city, Z05P1P0/010017, Republic of Kazakhstan) (hereinafter the "Bank") held the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on April 1st, 2022 where the membership of the Board of Directors of the Bank was determined in the amount of six people, the Board of Directors was re-elected with a term of office that expires at the time of the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of the Bank in 2025.

Thus, currently the Board of Directors of the Bank is as follows: 

- four representatives of the shareholder’s interests: Anuar Utemuratov, Guram Andronikashvili, Marlen Mirzabekov, Timur Issatayev; 
- two Independent Directors: Yeldar Abdrazakov, Hubert Pandza.

On the membership of the Board of Directors of ForteBank JSC

Nur-Sultan, January 12th, 2022

**ForteBank announces appointment of a new Chairperson of the Management Board**

The Board of Directors of ForteBank has approved the nomination of the Chairperson of the Management Board; Mr. Reinis Rubenis will accept this post. Ms. Sholpan Nurumber, who has been holding an interim office of the Chairperson of the Management Board since 01.08.2021, shall continue in the capacity of the Deputy Chairperson of the Management Board and a member of the Management Board.

Mr. Reinis Rubenis has been working on financial markets of Europe for the past 25 years and is known as an experienced and efficient manager propelling the companies to the top. For the past 14 years, Mr. Rubenis has worked for the largest bank of Latvia, Swedbank, 5 of these years - in the capacity of the Chairperson of the Management Board. Mr. Rubenis has also been a member of the Board of Directors of Nasdaq Latvia and a member of the Board of Directors of the Latvian Central Depository. Under the management of Mr. Rubenis, the team of Swedbank became the leader of Latvian market in terms of assets and the number of customers, successfully integrated digital financial services and managed to create the strongest HR brand in the country.

The new CEO will focus on the primary strategic directions – improvement of the processes efficiency and acceleration of the delivery of new services to the market. The crucial groundwork for the upcoming changes lies in evolution of the customer experience management and development of a corporate culture of a European institute, as well as formation of partner programs with local and global companies.

While commenting on the appointment of Mr. Rubenis, the principal shareholder of ForteBank Mr. Bulat Utemuratov noted:

“Mr. Rubenis possesses an impressive professional expertise and experience of building up the flagship financial institutions in highly competitive markets. Throughout his career of many years, Mr. Rubenis has proved that his strength lies in his ability to form effective interaction with the market participants, regulators and partners. His expertise and vigor will help the Bank to create the best consumer experience for its customers and will lead the entire team to success.”

Mr. Reinis Rubenis also expressed his positive attitude to this new chapter of his career:

“I am excited to become a part of Forte and grateful to the shareholders for the utmost trust on their part. For my part, I would like to say with confidence that I will do everything to solidify the success of the bank and well-being of every customer. From today onward, we will build up Forte as a European bank trusted and loved by customers.”

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Contacts
Press office
Tel.: +7 (7172) 59 99 99 (вн. 10868, 10975) 



ForteBank announces appointment of a new Chairperson of the Management Board

On December 15, 2021, Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) announced its decision to upgrade the long-term deposit rating of ForteBank JSC to Ba2 from Ba3, the  outlook is “Stable”. Previous upgrade of the Bank’s rating by Moody’s took place in December 2020. Back then, the agency upgraded the long-term deposit rating of ForteBank to Ba3 from B1, the outlook was “Stable”.

This is not the first positive ratings action for ForteBank JSC in 2021. In September 2021, S&P Global Ratings international rating agency revised ForteBank’s ratings outlook to “Positive” from “Stable” , raised national scale rating from “kzBBB” to “kzBBB+” and affirmed  the long-term and short-term ratings at “B+/B”. Fitch Ratings agency, in its turn, upgraded the Bank’s long-term rating to “B+” from “B” and revised the outlook from “Stable” to “Positive”. 

**According to Moody’s analysts**, this rating action recognizes substantially decreased uncertainties over the Bank's asset risk, following the sharp contraction in problem loans since the beginning of this year. The rating action also recognizes improvement in the Bank's core profitability and Forte's maturing business profile.

**Note:**
ForteBank ranks among the top five largest banks of Kazakhstan and is one of the most stable, liquid and well-capitalized banks in the country. The Bank has 20 branches and about 100 outlets. The Bank was awarded by the leading international periodicals for multiple times. Thus, during the last 12 months, ForteBank has been recognized as the best bank in Kazakhstan according to Euromoney, Asiamoney and Global Finance.


Contacts

Investor Relations
Tel. +7 (7172) 58 75 75 (ext. 10249)
E-mail: IR@fortebank.com

Press Office
Tel.: +7 (7172) 59 99 99 (ext. 10868, 10975) 


Moody’s international rating agency upgrades rating of ForteBank

Mr. Eldar Abdrazakov is appointed the head of the Board of Directors of ForteBank

(NUR-SULTAN, November 30th, 2021) – The Board of Directors of ForteBank has appointed Mr. Eldar
Abdrazakov, the founder and the head of Centras Group, the Chairperson of the Board of Directors, starting from
December 1st, 2021. Mr. Abdrazakov will replace Mr. Marlen Mirzabekov on this post, who has been heading the
Board of Directors since 2019.

This appointment relates to further improvement of the strategic management efficiency of the Board of Directors
and to Mr. Eldar Abdrazakov’s intention to buy into ForteBank. This participation on the part of the Chairperson
of the Board of Directors of ForteBank shall contribute to further growth of capitalization and stable development
of the financial institution.

Mr. Eldar Abdrazakov commented on his appointment: “Over the last three years, I have been involved in the
Board of Directors affairs. The Bank adheres to the highest quality standards and possesses a strong growth
potential. It is an attractive investment for us. We plan to invest up to 10% shares of the bank. I am grateful to the
core shareholder Mr. Bulat Utemuratov for this invitation and for the opportunity to participate in successful
development of ForteBank”.


Contacts
Tel. +7 (7172) 59 99 99 (ext. 10808)

Mr. Eldar Abdrazakov is appointed the head of the Board of Directors of ForteBank

On September 22, 2021, the international rating agency Fitch Ratings upgraded the Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of ForteBank to “B+” from “B” and revised the outlook from “Stable” to “Positive”. The national scale rating has been upgraded by two notches from “BB+(kaz)” to “BBB(kaz)”, and Viability Rating (VR) has been upgraded from “b” to “b+”. 

On September 17, 2021, the international rating agency S&P Global Ratings  revised ForteBank’s ratings outlook to “Positive” from “Stable”, raised national scale rating from “kzBBB” to “kzBBB+” and affirmed  the long-term and short-term ratings at “B+/B”.

**According to Fitch Ratings analysts**, the upgrade of Long-Term IDRs and VR, as well as the outlook revision, reflects a material reduction of pressure on the bank’s capitalization from legacy asset-quality risks. The rating action also captures a record of the Bank’s strong profitability. Moreover, the Bank’s funding and liquidity profile is a rating strength.  The Bank’s liquidity cushion is solid,  covering 50% of the customer accounts at the end of the first half of 2021. 

**According to S&P analysts**, the rating outlook of ForteBank has been revised from “Stable” to “Positive” due to stabilizing economic conditions, sustainable business position of Fortebank and positive dynamic of the Bank’s assets quality improvement. The return on equity (ROE) for the first half of 2021 has exceeded 20% on a year over year basis.

While commenting on the news, the acting Chairperson of the Management Board of ForteBank **Mrs. Sholpan Nurumbet** has noted: 

*«We welcome the positive rating actions of Fitch Ratings and S&P, two out of three largest global rating agencies. ForteBank is one of the most stable, solvent and well-capitalized universal banks in the country. Forte is a rapidly developing ecosystem of the financial and non-financial products and services aimed at making our customers’ lives more comfortable, including ForteMarket marketplace, ForteForex online foreign exchange platform, ForteMobile, ForteFood and others. All of this allows us to retain high efficiency and demonstrate positive results.»*

**During last 12 months, ForteBank has been recognized as the best bank in Kazakhstan according to such international periodicals as Euromoney, Asiamoney and Global Finance, as well as the bank of the year according to the international magazine The Banker.**

Contacts

Investor Relations
Tel. +7 (7172) 58 75 75 (ext. 10249)
E-mail: [IR@fortebank.com](mailto:IR@fortebank.com)

Press Office
Tel.: +7 (7172) 59 99 99 (ext. 10868, 10975) 


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