Kazakhstan Stock Exchange will delay the start of Kazakh tenge-US dollar trading until 3 pm(0900 GMT) on Monday and may, together with the central bank, decide to suspend tenge-dollar trades altogether, the bourses aid.
The Russian rouble, which the tenge often follows, plunged to an all-time low on Monday, and the dollar soared against nearly all peers after Western nations announced fresh sanctions to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, and Russian President Vladimir Putin put the country’s nuclear-armed forces on high alert.
Global banks
Banks were scrambling to ensure they understood the full implications of the restrictions, including the banning of certain Russian lenders from the SWIFT international payment system, sources at major global banks said. The SWIFT measure was announced Saturday without naming the affected Russian banks, leaving the sector waiting for details.
With global financial markets set to open within hours, bankers described staff working on overdrive to apply the sanctions, including frantic calls to governments and regulators to fill in gaps in knowledge.
One European bank source said it was imploring authorities for more time to make system changes for full compliance in what the source described as a fast-moving, fluid situation.
