EXPERTISE
Financial Institutions

Bulgaria’s long road to NIS2 is over

February 2026 – Across most of the European Union, the NIS2 Directive has already become operational reality. Bulgaria’s path to transposition, however, has been materially delayed. The Cybersecurity Act amendments intended to implement the NIS2 Directive...

Austria publishes ministerial draft regarding AIFMD II implementation. A new loan origination framework for funds is introduced.

January 2026 – Directive (EU) 2024/927, commonly referred to as AIFMD II, marks the most significant reform of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) since its original adoption in 2011. Member States are required to transpose AIFMD...

Further easing of currency restrictions in Ukraine: Focus on new currency liberalisation instruments

January 2026 – On 13 January 2026, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) announced a new package of updates to the existing currency (FX) restrictions that were introduced in February 2022 in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Kinstellar advises PPF Group and its shareholders on the sale of Home Credit Bank Kazakhstan to ForteBank

January 2026 – Kinstellar has successfully advised PPF Group and its shareholders on the sale of Home Credit Bank Kazakhstan to ForteBank, which was completed in December 2025 following receipt of all required approvals from the relevant state authorities...

Guidance on FDI screening obligations in Austria

December 2025 – The Austrian ministry responsible for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) matters, the Federal Ministry for Economy, Energy, and Tourism (“the Ministry”), recently released guidance on the assessment of the filing obligation for foreign...

NIS2 and the New Serbian Law on Information Security

December 2025 – The Republic of Serbia has adopted a new Law on Information Security (Zakon o informacionoj bezbednosti) (“Serbian NIS2”), marking a significant reform of the national cybersecurity framework and alignment with the EU NIS2 Directive....

Kinstellar advises on the successful USD 1.5 billion sovereign Eurobond issuance by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan

November 2025 – Kinstellar has advised Citigroup Global Markets, J.P. Morgan Securities, and Standard Chartered Bank (Joint Lead Managers), alongside Halyk Finance and Teniz Capital Investment Banking (Kazakhstan Lead Managers), on the successful issuance...

Kinstellar advises joint global coordinators on KazMunayGas’s debut CNY-denominated Eurobond issuance

November 2025 – Kinstellar has advised the joint global coordinators, bookrunners and lead managers, Bank of China (Hong Kong), BOCI Asia, China CITIC Bank International, China International Capital Corporation Hong Kong Securities, Citigroup Global...

EBA consults new SREP Guidelines: Revisions reflect regulatory developments, including DORA and ESG, as well as lessons learned

October 2025 – On 24 October 2025, the European Banking Authority (“EBA”) published a consultation paper on revised guidelines on common procedures and methodologies for the supervisory review and evaluation process (“SREP”) and supervisory...

EU adopts 19th sanctions package against Russia

October 2025 – On 23 October 2025, following a European Commission proposal issued on 19 September 2025 and extended negotiations among Member States, the Council of the EU adopted its 19th sanctions package against Russia in response to its ongoing...