OREANDA-NEWS. September 02, 2014. Joint-Stock Company Kazkommertsbank (“KKB” or the “Bank”) (LSE: KKB; KASE: KKGB), one of the largest banks in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, today announces that the Bank will deduct withholding tax from payments made to shareholders during its recently announced share buyback.

The Bank will withhold tax at a rate of 20% for the entire amount of the payment due to shareholders during the share buyback. I.e. taking into account the announced price of 475.3667 tenge per common share (1 GDR = 2 common shares, the price for 1 GDR is 950.7334 tenge), the final payment, taking into account the tax withheld per 1 share, will amount to 380.2933 tenge (760.5867 tenge per 1 GDR).

Shareholders who fall into the following categories will be eligible to have any excess tax that is withheld refunded (in whole or in part):

- Investors who have confirmed that they are tax residents of the Republic of Kazakhstan (in this case, the tax rate is 0%);

- Investors who are residents of any country with which the Republic of Kazakhstan has  a double taxation Convention in place (in most cases - 0%, in a number of exceptions - 15%);

- Investors who have provided a proof that they have owned shares / GDRs in KKB for over 3 years (in this case the tax rate is 0%, except for residents of countries with preferential tax treatment, for which the rate is 20%);

- Investors who can provide documentation confirming the cost of their initial share/GDR purchase will only pay tax on returns generated by these holdings (in this case the tax rate is 15% or 20%);

- Investors who have provided confirmation of their tax residency under the condition that they are not residents of a country with preferential rates of tax (in this case tax rate is15%).

To qualify for any tax refund (fully or partially), investors who submit shares/GDRs for buyback, must provide the Bank with the appropriate supporting documentation (as mentioned in more detailed explanations) which must be issued by approved authorities or organisations and should be translated to Kazakh or Russian, notarised and apostilled.

Additionally, investors selling GDRs should provide personal information (full name/ company name), their tax status (place of registration), the amount of GDRs sold, to the Bank’s Depositary the Bank of New York Mellon (“BONY”), and to the Bank through their nominee holder before the date of BONY’s application to the Bank. On submitting their shares, investors must also provide the Bank with confirmation that their broker or nominee will submit shares on the shareholder’s behalf, and the broker’s/nominee holder’s details must also be provided before any claim for excess tax refund can be made.

In any event of non-compliance with the above conditions (including the events, when the documents are executed improperly or do not contain the required information) the Bank will not be able to refund any excess withholding tax.

Please, see the below document with detailed information on withholding tax.