Trade the Astana International Exchange (AIX) with ZagTrader

What the Astana International Exchange is

The Astana International Exchange (AIX) is the international securities exchange of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), the financial hub established in Astana, Kazakhstan. The AIFC operates under its own framework based on the principles of English common law, giving issuers and investors a familiar, internationally aligned legal and regulatory environment that is distinct from the wider domestic regime. AIX sits at the centre of that ecosystem as the venue where international and regional capital meets.

AIX is regulated by the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA), the AIFC's independent regulator, which oversees market conduct, listing standards and the supervision of participants. This positions AIX as an international exchange designed to be recognisable to global participants while serving as a gateway into Kazakhstan and the broader Central Asian and Eurasian region. For firms building a footprint across emerging and frontier markets, AIX offers an internationally oriented access point that connects regional issuance with cross-border investor demand.

Instruments listed on AIX

AIX supports a multi-asset, multi-currency product set, allowing institutions to build diversified portfolios across the venue's listings from a single connection. Its international listing regime accommodates issuers raising capital in more than one currency, which suits both regional companies and international issuers seeking access to investors through the AIFC.

This breadth means a single AIX connection can serve different desks — from cash-equity investors to fixed-income and fund-focused participants — without standing up separate market access for each instrument type. ZagTrader's multi-asset architecture is designed to handle these instruments within one consistent trading and post-trade workflow.

• Equities — local and internationally domiciled listings
• Bonds — government, supranational and corporate debt instruments
• ETFs — exchange-traded funds offering diversified, index-style exposure
• Multi-currency international listings across the product set

How ZagTrader connects — Tabadul, direct links and ECNs

ZagTrader connects to AIX through several complementary routes so firms can choose the access path that best fits their latency, redundancy and operational requirements. The first is dedicated direct exchange links into AIX, providing a primary session for order flow into the venue. The second is the Tabadul cross-border hub, of which AIX is a member: Tabadul links AIX with GCC exchanges and lets participants reach listings across the connected markets through a shared cross-border infrastructure, extending Gulf-to-Central-Asia access without a separate bilateral build for each venue. The third route is ECN connectivity, available as a complementary path where applicable.

Market access is delivered as part of ZagTrader's integrated Order Management System (OMS) and Execution Management System (EMS). Orders flow from a unified blotter through normalised connectivity to AIX — whether routed over the dedicated direct link, via the Tabadul hub or through an ECN — with order entry, amendments, cancellations and execution reports handled in a single workflow. Pre-trade and at-trade risk controls (limits, validations and compliance checks) are applied before orders reach the market, and FIX-based connectivity lets firms standardise their integration with the venue and with downstream systems.

• Dedicated direct exchange links into AIX
• Tabadul cross-border hub access linking AIX with GCC exchanges
• ECN routing as a complementary path where applicable
• Unified OMS/EMS order, execution and allocation workflow
• Configurable pre-trade and at-trade risk and compliance checks
• FIX-based connectivity for standardised integration

Settlement, custody & corporate actions

Trading is only part of the lifecycle. ZagTrader extends beyond execution into the post-trade workflow so that activity on AIX is captured cleanly from the moment of execution through to settlement. Trades are confirmed, allocated and enriched, then passed to settlement and custody operations through standardised messaging, reducing manual handling and reconciliation breaks across the desk and the middle office.

The platform keeps positions and supports the corporate-actions lifecycle for instruments held and traded on the venue — capturing events such as dividends, coupon payments and other entitlements, and reflecting their effect on holdings so that books and records stay accurate. Combined with multi-currency support, this gives operations teams a consistent post-trade view across the equities, bond and ETF instruments available on AIX, and across the cross-border flow reachable through the Tabadul hub.

• Trade confirmation, allocation and enrichment after execution
• Standardised messaging to settlement and custody operations
• Position keeping and corporate-actions tracking
• Multi-currency support across the post-trade workflow

Why access AIX via ZagTrader

Accessing the Astana International Exchange through ZagTrader means a single, integrated platform rather than a patchwork of point solutions. One vendor relationship covers connectivity, order and execution management, risk and compliance, and post-trade processing — shortening the path to going live and simplifying ongoing operations in a market governed by the AIFC's common-law framework and supervised by the AFSA.

Because the same platform already connects to a broad network of global exchanges, brokers and ECNs, adding AIX extends an existing footprint rather than building a new silo. The combination of dedicated direct links, the Tabadul cross-border hub and ECN access is particularly relevant for firms bridging the Gulf and Central Asia, giving desks a consistent multi-asset, multi-currency workflow across AIX and the rest of their markets — with the flexibility to choose the routing path that best fits each strategy as their needs evolve.

• One integrated platform for connectivity, OMS/EMS, risk and post-trade
• Direct links, Tabadul cross-border hub and ECN routing in one stack
• Consistent multi-asset, multi-currency workflow across desks
• AIX access as part of ZagTrader's wider global network