Kazakhstan`s ITS Secures Favorable Shariah Compliance Opinion as Islamic Investment Offering Expands

Astana, Kazakhstan, September 8, 2026 – Kazakhstan-based international trading platform ITS has received a favourable Shariah compliance opinion following an independent audit of its trading, custody and settlement infrastructure, providing a foundation for the further development of its Islamic investment offering.

ITS operates under the jurisdiction of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) and was the first multilateral trading facility (MTF) licensed by the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA). The platform provides access to more than 3,200 securities listed in the U.S. and Kazakhstan.

The audit was conducted by Alhamd Shariah Advisory Services, an independent Shariah advisory firm. It assessed whether the structure of securities trading, custody and settlement through ITS complies with Shariah requirements, including ownership rights, or Milkiyyah, and constructive possession, or Qabd Hukmi.

The opinion concluded that the model reviewed is fully acceptable from a Shariah perspective and found no objections to the structure of trading, custody and settlement through ITS.

The review covered the custody and settlement chain through the ITS Central Securities Depository (ITS CSD) and related infrastructure. It found that the system provides for the proper recording and transfer of ownership rights in securities, including shares of the ITS Shariah ETF.

The opinion also states that internal settlement through ITS CSD does not prevent ownership from passing to the buyer, provided the transfer is supported by the relevant contractual, accounting and depository records.

For investors following Islamic finance principles, the infrastructure through which a security is traded and held is important alongside the Shariah status of the security itself. The Shariah status of individual companies included in the ITS Shariah Index is assessed separately through independent screening and daily monitoring by Sahih Invest.

“Developing the market for Shariah-compliant investments is one of the areas in which ITS is expanding opportunities for international investors. This audit opinion on our trading and depository infrastructure confirms that the ITS model complies with Shariah principles and lays the groundwork for further developing products for investors focused on Islamic finance,” said Kurmet Orazayev, CEO of ITS.

Expanding ITS’s Shariah investment offering

ITS calculates its own ITS Shariah Index and offers trading in the ITS Shariah ETF, or ITSS, which tracks the index.

The ITS Shariah Index comprises 30 leading U.S.-listed companies that pass Shariah screening in accordance with standards set by the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI). The constituents are independently screened and monitored daily by Sahih Invest.

The ITS Shariah ETF was launched in January 2025 at $10 per share as the first Shariah-compliant index ETF in Central Asia and the Caucasus. The fund is registered within the AIFC in accordance with Islamic finance principles.

In 2025, ITSS delivered a 25.5% return, including dividend payments from companies in the underlying index. Over the same period, the ITS Shariah Index gained 23.6%, compared with a 16.4% increase in the S&P 500.

By the start of trading on September 4, 2026, ITSS was trading at $14.32 per share, 43.2% above its $10 initial offering price in January 2025. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

ITS has also been expanding its broader range of Islamic investment instruments. Investors on the platform can access international Shariah-compliant ETFs focused on U.S. and global equities, sukuk and real estate, including SPUS, HLAL, SPSK, SPRE and UMMA.

In May 2026, ITS expanded its Islamic fixed-income offering by admitting sovereign and corporate sukuk from Gulf issuers to trading.

The ITS Shariah ETF is also available to international investors through Tabadul, a cross-market access platform launched by Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. Tabadul connects participating markets across the Middle East and Central Asia, extending the distribution of ITS-developed investment products beyond Kazakhstan.

About ITS

ITS is an international trading platform operating under the jurisdiction of the Astana International Financial Centre in Kazakhstan. It was the first multilateral trading facility licensed by the Astana Financial Services Authority.

The platform focuses on providing access to international markets, particularly U.S.-listed securities. More than 3,200 global market instruments listed in the U.S. and Kazakhstan are available on ITS, including shares, depositary receipts and ETFs.

ITS was designed as an international trading hub connecting markets across time zones. Its nearly 19-hour trading session runs from 09:00 to 03:45 the following day, Astana time, spanning Asian, European and U.S. market hours.

ITS also develops its own market indexes and investment products. In addition to the ITS Shariah Index, the platform calculates the ITS World Index, which tracks 50 leading global companies. Exchange-traded funds based on both proprietary indexes are available on ITS.

The platform also provides access to shares of companies conducting U.S. IPOs before regular trading begins in New York.

In 2025, total trading volume on ITS exceeded $14 billion, 70 times the 2024 figure. More than 1.2 million investors have access to trading on the platform.

ITS currently has 23 trading participants from seven countries – Kazakhstan, Armenia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Kyrgyzstan, Oman and South Africa.

ITS clients are professional securities market participants from Kazakhstan and other countries – financial intermediaries accredited or registered with the AIFC. Retail and corporate investors access trading through financial intermediaries, including brokers and banks.

banks.