Financial Services Working Group

On 20 June 2023, the next meeting of the Financial Services Working Group took place with the participation of more than 20 company representatives. The meeting revolved around the current law and regulations with regard to financial technologies (fintech) in Azerbaijan.

We were joined by the representatives of BHM Law Firm LLC, Ms Gulnar Gurbanova and Ms Turkan Hajiyeva, who gave valuable insights into the regulatory framework for fintech in Azerbaijan and explored potential areas for improvement and development.

The meeting continued with a Q&A session with the participation of Mr Farid Osmanov, Executive Director of the Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan, moderated by Mr Afgan Bakhishov, Chairperson of the AHK Azerbaijan Financial Services Working Group. More

On 05 July 2022, the next meeting of the Financial Services Working Group took place with the participation of more than 20 company representatives. The meeting revolved around the key topics concerning the financial sector in Azerbaijan, aiming to set an annual agenda for the second half of 2022.

Opening the meeting, Tobias Baumann welcomed the participants, introduced Ramin Huseynov, new Chairperson of the Financial Services Working Group, and added that the impact of the current political situation on the financial markets was not fully clear. Logistics companies are particularly hard hit by the sanctions and looking for new transportation corridors. Ramin Huseynov, in his speech, talked about the recent activities and the topics covered by the Financial Services Working Group and went through the crucial topics that stand out in the financial sector.

The meeting continued with a session on gathering ideas from the participants, which Ramin Huseynov moderated. During the meeting, it was agreed that the Financial Services Working Group would focus on addressing key challenges in financial and operational leasing, capital markets, securities, and macroeconomic trends. More

On 19 April 2022, the next online meeting of the Financial Services Working Group took place with the participation of more than 40 company representatives. The meeting was focused on the economic impacts of the pandemic and emerging risks for recovery.

After the opening remarks by Tobias Baumann, Evgenia Gashikulina welcomed the participants and the guest speaker - Werner Claes, Member of the Supervisory Board of AccessBank, and noted that he was a professional with over 20 years of extensive experience in the banking sector, particularly in the fields of risk management, modeling, and operational efficiency.

In his presentation, Werner Claes shared his views from a more global and holistic perspective, talking about the tools that can help businesses deal with crisis situations. He expanded on these issues, touching upon several topics related to economic impact and interconnectivity, means to fight the crises in international markets, climate themes, and managing under extreme uncertainty.

The meeting was moderated by Evgenia Gashikulina and the presentation by the guest speaker was followed by an engaging question and answer session. More

On 27 January 2022, the next online meeting of the Financial Services Working Group took place with participation of more than 40 company representatives. The meeting was focused on the digitalisation strategy for the finance and banking sector.

Opening the meeting, Evgenia Gashikulina welcomed the participants and the guest speaker - Farid Osmanov, Executive Director of the Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan and recalled the short survey carried out among the members of the working group last year. One of the popular topics that stood out was the future roadmap for digitalisation.

In his presentation, Farid Osmanov shared the strategic incentives of the Central Bank for the near future touching upon the main challenges in the fields of regulatory framework, financial market development, financial inclusion and digitalisation. He further explained the Digital Payment Strategy of the Central Bank for 2021-2023, which aims to establish competitive, innovative and affordable payment ecosystem.

The meeting was moderated by Evgenia Gashikulina and the presentation by the guest speaker was followed by an engaging question and answer session. More

On 03 February 2021, the next online meeting of the Financial Services Working Group took place with participation of more than 20 company representatives. The meeting was focused on identifying and managing risks in the banking and financial sector in Azerbaijan.

Opening the meeting, Evgenia Gashikulina noted a number of positive economic signs in the country despite some large remaining uncertainties in the international and domestic markets. The session was moderated by Evgenia Gashikulina and we were joined by two guest speakers - Afgan Bakhishov, Executive Director on Legal and Compliance and Fuad Rustamov, Head of the Underwriting Department from the AccessBank CJSC who shared their observation on financial and legal risks when analysing the companies in the market.

The online event was interactive and after the presentations, the guest speakers answered questions raised by the participants. More

On 16 July 2020, the German-Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce (AHK Azerbaijan) hosted the next meeting of the Financial Services Working Group.

The online meeting was focused on the impact of the pandemic on banking and finance sector in Azerbaijan and Mr Fuad Isayev, Director of the Credit Institutions Supervision Department at the Central Bank shared his perspectives regarding the topic. Mr Samir Humbatov, Acting Chairman of the Management Board of the Entrepreneurship Development Fund under the Ministry of Economy informed the participants about the new business support mechanisms and the terms of preferential lending to entrepreneurs by the Fund. The meeting was followed by the discussion related to the measures undertaken by the government to mitigate the adverse effects of the pandemic on the private sector and the speakers answered questions raised by the participants.

On 25 February 2020, the next meeting of the Financial Services Working Group took place at AHK office. The meeting was focused on the alternative funding and financing mechanisms in Azerbaijan.                                                             

Mr. Tobias Baumann, Executive Board Member of AHK Azerbaijan opened the meeting and welcomed Mr. Mehman Abbas, Deputy Chairman at Small and Medium Business Development Agency of Azerbaijan who was invited to give his inputs on the particular topic. Ms. Evgenia Gashikulina, Chairperson of the Financial Services Working Group greeted the participants and underlined the importance of the alternative finance mechanisms in Azerbaijan.

Mr. Ilgar Mehti and Mr. Emil Bashirov - experts from Ekvita LLC gave a presentation on “Legislation on Alternative Financing” at the meeting explaining the different forms of alternative financing and its prospects for Azerbaijan.

After the presentation, Mr. Ilgar Mehti and Mr. Emil Bashirov answered to the specific inquiries of participants and the meeting was followed by discussions. More

The Kick-off Meeting of the Financial Services Working Group was held on 10 December 2019 at AHK Azerbaijan office.

The meeting was opened with a welcoming speech by Mr. Tobias Baumann, Executive Director of AHK Azerbaijan and Mr. Farid Isayev, Member of the Board.

Mr. Tobias Baumann then introduced the Chairman of the Financial Services Working Group, Ms. Evgenia Gashikulina to the participants.

The main objectives of the Financial Services Working Group, key topics and suitable dates for the upcoming meetings were discussed at the meeting.

The main aim of the activities of Financial Services Working Group is to address the challenges associated with financial market, including strategic and operative planning, business controlling, legislative changes, exchange of knowledge and expertise, to hold informational events on key topics in the finance field and to strengthen communication with relevant government agencies. More