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 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) 


ForteBank informs on ratings upgrade

ForteBank JSC (hereinafter referred to as the “Bank”) with the executive board (Management Board) located at: 8/1, Dostyk str., Yessil district, Nur-Sultan city, Z05P1P0/010017, Republic of Kazakhstan, hereby notifies its shareholders that the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders (hereinafter the “Meeting”) summoned at the initiative of the Board of Directors of the Bank (Minutes dated September 21st, 2021 No. 32) on the basis of Article 35.1, Article 37.2.1) and Article 41 of the Republic of Kazakhstan Law “On Joint Stock Companies” (hereinafter the Law “On Joint Stock Companies”).

The Meeting will be held on **October 25th, 2021** at 10.00 a.m. (Nur-Sultan time) at the following address: Conference Room “Astana”, 8th floor, 8/1, Dostyk str., Nur-Sultan city.

The participants shall be registered on October 25th, 2021 from 09.00 a.m. to 09.45 a.m. (Nur-Sultan time) at the venue of the Meeting.

The register of the Bank shareholders eligible to participate at the Meeting will be compiled as at 00.00 a.m. (Nur-Sultan time) on October 11th, 2021.

In the absence of a quorum, the adjourned Extraordinary General Meeting of the Bank Shareholders will be held on October 26th, 2021 at 10.00 a.m. (Nur-Sultan time) at the same address. The participants of the adjourned Extraordinary General Meeting of the Bank Shareholders will be registered on October 26th, 2021 from 09.00 a.m. to 09.45 a.m. (Nur-Sultan time) at the venue of the Meeting.

**Agenda of the Meeting**

1. On determination of the number of members of the Board of Directors of ForteBank JSC.
3. On the election of a member of the Board of Directors - an independent director of ForteBank JSC and determination of the level of his remuneration.

In accordance with Article 43.4.1 of the Law “On Joint Stock Companies”, the agenda of the Meeting may be supplemented by a shareholder owning, independently or together with other shareholders, five or more percent of the voting shares of the company, or by the Board of Directors, provided that shareholders of the Bank have been notified of such amendments not later than 15 days prior to the date of the Meeting.

Pursuant to Article 44.4 of the Law “On Joint Stock Companies”, the materials on issues of the agenda of the Meeting will be prepared and available for familiarization of shareholders not later than ten calendar days before the date of the General Meeting of Shareholders at the location of the Management Board of the Bank.

Upon request of a shareholder of the Bank, the materials on issues of the agenda of the Meeting shall be sent thereto within three business days since the day of receipt of the request, provided that the cost of documents copies making and documents delivery shall be borne by the shareholder.

For more information on holding of the Meeting, please call: +7 (7172) 59 99 99, extension 10200.

We hereby offer the shareholders of the Bank to get acquainted with the following procedure for holding the Meeting.
In accordance with article 17.5 of the Republic of Kazakhstan Law “On Banks and Banking Activities in the Republic of Kazakhstan”, legal entities incorporated in offshore zones, the list whereof is established by the authorized authority (see: decree of the Management Board of the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market dated February 24, 2020 № 8 On Establishing the List of Offshore Zones for the Purposes of Banking and Insurance Activities, Activities of the Professional Participants of the Securities Markets and Other Licensed Types of Activities on the Securities Markets, Activities of the Joint Stock Investment Funds and Activities of the Organizations Conducting Micro-financial Activities), shall not be able to directly or indirectly own and (or) use, and (or) dispose the voting shares of the Republic of Kazakhstan resident banks.

According to paragraph 5-1 of said article, a shareholder participating at the general meeting of shareholders shall submit a statement which indicates the compliance with paragraph 5 of this article by its shareholders (participants), in case if the bank has no information on country of residence of such shareholders (participants). The second subparagraph of the aforementioned paragraph stipulates that a shareholder who has not submitted the above statement is not allowed to participate in the general meeting of shareholders.
In this regard, at the registration, participants of the Meeting shall submit documents confirming their eligibility to participate at the Meeting and vote on issues considered at the Meeting.

The shareholders (representatives thereof) arrived shall be registered before opening of the Meeting. It is required to have an identity document. A representative of the shareholder must submit a power of attorney confirming the authority thereof to participate and vote at the Meeting, or a document confirming the eligibility to act on behalf of the shareholder or represent interests thereof without a power of attorney.

A shareholder (representative of a shareholder) who has not been registered shall not be counted in determining the quorum and shall not be entitled to vote.

The Meeting opens at the announced time if a quorum is present.

The Meeting shall hold elections of the chairperson and secretary of the Meeting, determine the form of voting – open or secret (by poll).

In accordance with Article 50.1 of the Law “On Joint Stock Companies”, voting on the agenda of the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders shall be carried out under the principle of “one share – one vote”, except for providing each person entitled to vote at the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders one vote each regarding the procedural matters related to holding the general meeting of shareholders.

The chairperson shall not be entitled to interfere with the speeches of those eligible to participate in the discussion of the agenda issue, except for cases when such speeches result in violation of the rules of the Meeting or when the dispute on this issue is over.
A Meeting shall be entitled to adopt a resolution on suspension of its work and on extension of the period of work, including postponement of consideration of certain issues of the agenda of the general meeting of shareholders to the following day.
A Meeting may be declared to be closed only after consideration of all issues of the agenda and adoption of resolutions thereon.
In accordance with Article 52.1 of the Law “On Joint Stock Companies”, the minutes Meeting shall be drawn up and signed within three business days after the closing of the Meeting.

The meeting shall be held in accordance with Articles 35, 36, 37, 39–48, 50, 51, 52 and 54 of the Law “On Joint Stock Companies”, Articles 17.5 and 17.5-1 of the Law “On Banks and Banking Activities”, and Article 15 of the Bank Charter.

In accordance with the issue of the agenda of the Meeting “On the election of a member of the Board of Directors - an independent director of ForteBank JSC and determination of the level of his remuneration”, we kindly ask you, to submit to the Bank the list of nominated members of the Board of Directors of the Bank by 6 p.m. on October 11th, 2021.
We inform that in accordance with Article 44.2 of the Republic of Kazakhstan Law “On Joint Stock Companies”, the information on proposed nominated members of the Board of Directors of the Bank should include:
1) last name, first name, and patronymic (optional);
2) education background;
3) information on affiliation with the Bank;
4) information on places of work and positions held for the last three years;
5) other information confirming the qualification and experience of the candidate.

The person proposed (recommended) to be elected as a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank must comply with the requirements for executives established by Article 20 of the Republic of Kazakhstan Law “On Banks and Banking Activities in the Republic of Kazakhstan”, Article 54 of the Republic of Kazakhstan Law “On Securities Market”. The person proposed (recommended) to be elected to hold the position of an Independent Director must meet the requirements of Article 1.20 of the Law “On Joint Stock Companies” as well.

We are looking forward to welcoming the shareholders of the Bank to participate in the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of the Bank.

Notice: the Extraordinary General Meeting of ForteBank JSC Shareholders will be held on October 25th, 2021

Nur-Sultan city, July 30th, 2021 – ForteBank Joint Stock Company located at the address: 8/1, Dostyk str., Nur-Sultan city, Z05P1P0/010017, Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter referred to as the “Bank”), hereby reports the changes in the membership of the Management Board of the Bank.

According to the resolution of the Board of Directors of the Bank (dated June 29th, 2021, minutes № 20), the powers of Mr. Guram Andronikashvili as the Chairman of the Management Board of the Bank shall be terminated on July 30th, 2021, due to him being elected as a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank and a representative of the interests of Mr. Bulat Utemuratov, the stockholder of the Bank.

Effective from August 2nd, 2021, the Board of Directors of the Bank appoints Mrs. Sholpan Nurumbet, who has previously held the position of the Deputy Chairwoman of the Management Board of the Bank, as the Acting Chairwoman of the Management Board of the Bank.


Information on changes in the membership of ForteBank JSC Management Board

Press Release

Nur-Sultan
July 30, 2021

Guram Andronikashvili to retire as ForteBank Chairman of the Management Board 

Fortebank announced today that its current Chairman of the Management Board, Guram Andronikashvili is retiring from his post, and will continue in a new role as member of the Supervisory  Board from August 1, 2021. Deputy Chairman of the Management Board, Sholpan Nurumbet, is appointed as acting Chairman of the Management Board as of that date. 

“I would like to thank Guram for his work over the last several years. Under his leadership Fortebank demonstrated stable asset growth combined with excellent financial performance, continually growing its client base and improving customer service and product offering. Significant progress was made in digitalisation of the bank and transformation of internal corporate culture. I am confident that this has laid an excellent foundation for further success of Forte”, commented Bulat Utemuratov, majority shareholder of ForteBank.     

Guram Andronikashvili was appointed as the Chairman of the Management Board of ForteBank in February 2018. During his management term For the bank demonstrated stable asset growth with continuous improvement of capitalisation and liquidity metrics. Over the last three years net income of the bank increased 2.7 times, from 20 bn tenge in 2017 to 53 bn tenge (c. US$130mm) in 2020, with return on equity improving from 10.2% to 21.2%. Continuous improvement in profitability coupled with conservative growth of loan portfolio and focused risk management culture allowed the bank to maintain high level of stability, which was noted by all three rating agencies. As a part of strategic development under management of Guram Andronikashvili, bank underwent internal digital transformation and a number of new ecosystem products were launched (ForteMarket – digital marketplace, ForteMobile – mobile service package, ForteForex – p2p foreign exchange). Just in 2020 number of retail clients using ForteApp increased by 38.3% and number of corposate clients using Forte internet banking increased by 35.8%.   

“I would like to express my gratitude to the shareholder of the bank, Mr Bulat Utemuratov, for his trust, guidance and support over the period of last 11 years during which I have worked for Forte. I am sure that going forward I will be able to continue supporting the bank, but in a new role as a member of the supervisory board. I would also like to thank all my colleagues for their exceptional dedication in shaping Forte. Together, we have successfully transformed Forte from a small bank that was one of the smallest in the country in 2010 to one of the leading universal banks and a growing ecosystem in Kazakhstan. Over the last several years we have proven our financial strength by comfortably passing the Asset Quality Review (AQR) and regulatory stress tests, operated effectively during the Covid-19 pandemic and at the same time delivered record financial and operational performance.  As a part of the implementation of our strategy, Forte made huge steps in working out our historical heritage loan portfolios from Alliance and Temir banks, completely upgraded our IT architecture and infrastructure and created new data gathering and analytical platform - Forte DataLake, built out significant digital capabilities and developed our own app for individual clients and legal entities (to be released in the nearest future).  All this allowed us to offer quality new products and services to our clients, including beyond banking ecosystem products, the number of which is growing from year to year, and to create a high-quality platform for the further development of Forte,” commented Guram Andronikashvili, Chairman of the Management Board of ForteBank.






Guram Andronikashvili to retire as ForteBank Chairman of the Management Board 

ForteBank received the award as the Best Bank in Kazakhstan according to a authoritative international magazine Euromoney.

ForteBank received the award as the Best Bank in Kazakhstan according to a authoritative international magazine Euromoney.

**Guram Andronikashvili, a Chairman of the Board of ForteBank**, commented on receiving of the award: *“On behalf of ForteBank, I would like to express my gratitude to  Euromoney jury for a high assessment of our work. This award confirms that despite the challenging times caused by the pandemic, our Bank has chosen the right strategy that allows us to grow and offer our clients high quality services and products. I am grateful to every Forte client for their trust and loyalty to the Bank, as well as to every Forte employee for hard work and contribution to the Bank's development."*

As **the editor of Euromoney magazine Lucy Fitzgeorge-Parker** notes, *“Prudent management and fast-paced innovation helped ForteBank consolidate its position as a rising star in Kazakhstan’s competitive banking market last year and make the number four lender a worthy winner of the award for best bank in Kazakhstan. Impressive returns were balanced by solid fundamentals, while the launch of a suite of ecosystem products put down a marker for future growth”.*

The **Euromoney** Award are given to the leaders in banking, finance and investment in 100 countries around the world since 1992 and is considered one of the most prestigious in the international financial world. Euromoney pays special attention to maintaining high standards of impartiality, fairness and accuracy in determining the winners. Editors, experts and analysts carefully examine the activities of each candidate bank, conduct their own market soundings with international correspondent banks, pick up brain of prominent financiers and bankers. The decision-making process usually takes two months. 

*According to Euromoney magazine editor Lucy Fitzgeorge-Parker: “Banks awarded by Euromoney as part of the Awards for Excellence have a reputation of strong financial institutions, despite all the objective difficulties of doing banking in the modern world. They provide first-class financial services and are trusted by clients. Last year we received almost 1,000 submissions from banks in our regional and country awards programme that covers more than 50 regional awards and best bank awards in close to 100 countries.”*

*ForteBank is one of the most stable, liquid and well-capitalized banks in the country. Over the past 12 months, ForteBank was recognized as the "Best Bank of Kazakhstan" for the second time according to Asiamoney, for the third time it was recognized as "Bank of the Year in Kazakhstan" according to The Banker magazine, and for the fourth year in a row, "The Best Bank of Kazakhstan" according to the magazine Global Finance.*


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