Freedom Holding Corp.: S&P Global Ratings Upgrades Outlook on Key Operating Subsidiaries to "Positive" on Strengthened Risk Management and Compliance
Positive Outlook: recognition of systemic progress
The revised outlook reflects Freedom Holding's significant achievements in consolidating and enhancing its risk management and compliance functions across the organization.
Over the past two years, the group has implemented a centralized risk management policy, adopted unified risk appetite standards, established a compliance project management office, and expanded its oversight team to include 129 risk specialists and 162 compliance professionals operating across 22 jurisdictions.
"We've come a long way — turning fragmented control functions into a unified, centralized system at the group level. This decision reflects the maturity of our governance model," commented CEO Timur Turlov.
Focus on resilience: lower risk and balanced growth
The holding's overall capitalization strengthened in fiscal year 2025. Its risk-adjusted capital (RAC) ratio rose from 11.6% to around 13%, supported by moderate balance sheet growth, a decline in economic and industry risks in Kazakhstan, and a resilient brokerage business. As of March 2025, Freedom Group serves around 5 million customers, including over 4.4 million financial clients, with its SuperApp becoming a key digital tool for users' day-to-day financial activities.
Market leadership in Kazakhstan, growth in Europe
S&P highlighted Freedom's continued leadership in Kazakhstan's retail brokerage sector, serving approximately 683,000 clients worldwide, of whom over 151,000 executed at least one trade in the last quarter of FY2025. The group is also expanding its presence in Europe, with 391,000 clients via its Cyprus-based subsidiary and offices in 10 EU countries. The holding company continues to invest in the telecom segment and maintains a sustainable business model supported by income from brokerage operations.
About Freedom Holding Corp.
Freedom Holding Corp. is an international financial and technology group listed on the Nasdaq (ticker: FRHC). The company offers investment, banking, insurance, and digital services through its integrated platform, Freedom SuperApp. The group operates in 22 countries, including Kazakhstan, the United States, Cyprus, Poland, Spain, Uzbekistan, and Armenia. The Company's principal executive office is located in New York City.
Freedom Holding Corp. is regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Contact
Public RelationsNatalia KharlashinaFreedom Holding Corp.prglobal@ffin.kz
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2721350/Freedom_Holding_Corp_Logo.jpg
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/freedom-holding-corp-sp-global-ratings-upgrades-outlook-on-key-operating-subsidiaries-to-positive-on-strengthened-risk-management-and-compliance-302493837.html
SOURCE Freedom Holding Corp.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Citi and Ant International pilot AI-enabled forecasting solution to enhance FX risk management for airline customers
Ant International's Falcon TST Model will give Citi's clients an improved FX risk management solution when selling through e-commerce channels. Pilot airline customer of the jointly-developed solution has already seen a cost reduction in their Fixed FX Rates hedging programme for online ticket sales. SINGAPORE, July 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Citi and Ant International announced today that they are piloting the use of Ant International's Falcon Time-Series Transformer (TST) Model to deliver an enhanced FX risk management solution for their customers. Developed with aviation clients as an initial use case, the solution aims to offer greater payment solutions for the airline industry, which processes billions of payment transactions annually. With airline travel set to continue growing, the joint solution combines Ant International's experience with airline payments and Citi's robust FX solutions to help the bank's clients manage their FX costs more efficiently. Ant International's Falcon TST Model is a transformer architecture-based big data model with close to 2 billion parameters. By integrating the latest time series forecasting algorithms, the TST Model predicts future data points by learning complex patterns from large historical data sets using AI technology, the model helps businesses improve the efficiency and accuracy of their cashflow and FX exposure forecasts, allowing them to reduce hedging and overall FX costs. By pairing the Falcon TST Model with Citi's Fixed FX Rates solution, an award-winning solution that simplifies the FX risk management process for businesses selling online in multiple currencies, the combined solution helps businesses mitigate the risks associated with currency fluctuations by securing FX rates for a defined period. FX rates are locked-in and agreed upon, giving businesses greater predictability in budgeting, pricing and profitability. Citi's Fixed FX Rates solution supports over 70 currencies and is widely used by clients in various sectors including Airlines, Travel and e-Commerce. With Ant International's AI-enabled forecasting capability, businesses may utilise Citi's enhanced solution to improve the accuracy of their sales and FX exposure forecasts. Ant International has already achieved an accuracy rate of more than 90% in the company's own use cases and expects the solution to help the airline industry reduce its overall FX hedging costs as forecast accuracy continues to improve. By combining Ant International's Falcon TST model with Citi's Fixed FX Rates solution, Citi has successfully completed FX transactions for one of the leading carriers in Asia, reducing the carrier's FX hedging costs in initial live transactions. Sam Hewson, Global Head of FX Sales at Citi, said: "We are constantly evolving our products and solutions to support new use cases built on our clients' priorities. Citi's Fixed FX Rates solution supports some of the world's largest e-Commerce and Travel names and this innovative solution sees us leveraging best-in-class technology capabilities in the broader ecosystem to accelerate go-to-market use cases." Kelvin Li, General Manager of Platform Tech at Ant International, said: "This is the first industry-tailored solution developed from our Falcon TST Model with a bank partner to serve their customers. It's an important milestone in our journey to leverage AI for FX management for our businesses, partners, and also merchants. The 30% hedging cost savings Ant International has achieved for the pilot airline customer shows the cost efficiency that can be achieved with AI-enabled FX hedging. We are excited to expand the solution with Citi to serve more businesses and industries." About Citi Citi is a preeminent banking partner for institutions with cross-border needs, a global leader in wealth management and a valued personal bank in its home market of the United States. Citi does business in more than 180 countries and jurisdictions, providing corporations, governments, investors, institutions and individuals with a broad range of financial products and services. Additional information may be found at | X: @Citi | LinkedIn: | YouTube: | Facebook: About Ant International With headquarters in Singapore and main operations across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America, Ant International is a leading global digital payment, digitisation and financial technology provider. Through collaboration across the private and public sectors, our unified techfin platform supports financial institutions and merchants of all sizes to achieve inclusive growth through a comprehensive range of cutting-edge digital payment and financial services solutions. To learn more, please visit View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Citi
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of AVLA Seguros de Crédito y Garantía S.A.
MEXICO CITY, July 17, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B++ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of "bbb+" (Good) of AVLA Seguros de Crédito y Garantía S.A. (AVLA Chile) (Chile). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. The ratings reflect AVLA Chile's balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strong, as well as its marginal operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. The ratings also recognize AVLA Chile's affiliation and strategic importance to its ultimate parent, AVLA Bermuda Holding Corp Ltd. (ABHC), a financial holding company domiciled in Bermuda, engaged in insurance operations in Chile, Peru, Mexico, Brazil and the United States. As of May 2025, ABHC had equity of USD 89 million. AVLA Chile began operations in Chile in 2013 as AVALCHILE, before changing its name to AVLA Chile in 2016. AVLA Chile specializes in credit insurance and surety; it ranks first in Chile in surety and within the top three in credit insurance, based on market share. AM Best assesses AVLA Chile's business profile as neutral. The company has redefined its risk appetite successfully through adverse market conditions. In AM Best's view, management's capabilities remain key to adjusting its product offerings amid these evolving market conditions. During the past two years, AVLA Chile's operating performance has been limited by its underwriting results and has followed a downward trend that as of December 2024, resulted in a USD 1.4 million loss. The company's results were impacted by an increase in claims from financial guarantees, which could not be offset by revenue from fees for credit studies, tied to credit insurance policies, in contrast to 2023. The company has taken measures to correct this trend, and as of March 2025, combined ratio has returned to premium sufficiency levels. AM Best will continue to monitor AVLA Chile's results and underwriting quality. AVLA Chile's balance sheet strength assessment is strong given its solid capital base for the risks it undertakes. The strong balance sheet strength assessment recognizes the company's reinsurance dependence, while also taking into account the excellent security level of its reinsurance panel. AVLA Chile benefits from belonging to the AVLA Group, as reflected by the willingness and proven history of capital contributions made by its shareholders to support growth, with the latest one taking place in 2024, equivalent to USD 4.8 million. Positive rating actions could take place if AVLA Chile can show a stable upward trend in risk-adjusted capitalization, underpinned by consistently positive bottom-line results. Positive rating actions also could take place if AVLA Chile is able to demonstrate a consistent upward trend in its bottom-line results, that compares favorably with the adequate assessment. Negative rating actions could occur if in AM Best's opinion, the strategic importance of AVLA Chile to its group decreased significantly, or if the AVLA Group's consolidated financial strength deteriorated to a point no longer supportive of the current ratings. This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best's website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best's Credit Ratings, Best's Performance Assessments, Best's Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best's Ratings & Assessments. AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit Copyright © 2025 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on Contacts Inger Rodriguez Financial Analyst +52 55 1102 2720, ext. 108 Alfonso Novelo Senior Director, Analytics +52 55 1102 2720, ext. 107 Christopher Sharkey Associate Director, Public Relations +1 908 882 2310 Al Slavin Senior Public Relations Specialist +1 908 882 2318 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of AVLA Re Ltd.
MEXICO CITY, July 17, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B++ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of "bbb+" (Good) of AVLA Re Ltd. (AVLA Re) (Bermuda). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. The ratings of AVLA Re reflect its balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM). AVLA Re is ultimately owned by AVLA Bermuda Holding Corp Ltd. (ABHC), a financial holding company domiciled in Bermuda that is engaged in insurance operations in Chile, Peru, Mexico, Brazil and the United States. As of May 2025, ABHC had equity of USD 89 million. AVLA Re is considered a new company as it began operations in January 2022, under a Class 3A insurer license in Bermuda. The company currently reinsures business from other ABHC subsidiaries in Chile, Peru, Mexico and Brazil, and plans to reinsure premiums from third parties in the medium to long term. AVLA Re's business profile is considered limited, given the small size of the company and its high degree of competition. The balance sheet strength of the company is considered very strong. AVLA Re has received two capital infusions from its holding company since its creation. AM Best will monitor any capital flows to and from the company to continue assessing the strength of its balance sheet. The company's operating performance is considered adequate and in line with its position as a recently formed company. AVLA Re's premium growth has been prudent, with controlled increments in businesses from subsidiaries in the group. The company's claims experience has been in line with organization's expectations and AVLA Re was able to post positive bottom-line results of USD 5.8 million in its third year of operations. AM Best will continue to monitor the underwriting quality and operating metrics of this building block. AVLA Re's ERM assessment is considered appropriate for its risk appetite and strongly supported by ABHC's back office. AVLA Re benefits from capital support from ABHC, as well as synergies and brand recognition from the group, with which AVLA Re shares experienced management. The stable outlooks reflect AM Best's expectations that AVLA Re will meet its business objectives in terms of operating metrics and capitalization. Negative rating actions could occur if AVLA Re's capital base erodes due to significant capital base deterioration or sustained unfavorable operating results. Negative rating actions could also occur should AVLA Re's importance to the group's strategy lessens in AM Best's opinion. Positive rating actions could occur in the medium term, driven by a consistent, upward trend in operating results, which in turn, strengthens its capital base. This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best's website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best's Credit Ratings, Best's Performance Assessments, Best's Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best's Ratings & Assessments. AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit Copyright © 2025 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on Contacts Inger Rodriguez Financial Analyst +52 55 1102 2720, ext. 108 Alfonso Novelo Senior Director, Analytics +52 55 1102 2720, ext. 107 Christopher Sharkey Associate Director, Public Relations +1 908 882 2310 Al Slavin Senior Public Relations Specialist +1 908 882 2318 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
