S&P Global Ratings Upgrades Freedom Subsidiaries

S&P Global Ratings has upgraded the credit ratings of several subsidiaries within the Freedom ecosystem. At the same time, the agency affirmed the long-term issuer credit rating of Freedom Holding Corp. at ‘BB-‘ with a Stable outlook. According to S&P, the upgrades reflect the group’s significant improvements in risk management and compliance over the past three years.

The agency raised the long-term issuer credit ratings of Freedom Finance JSC, Freedom Finance Europe Ltd., Freedom Finance Global PLC, and Freedom Bank Kazakhstan JSC from ‘B+’ to ‘BB-‘. The long-term rating of Freedom Holding Corp. was affirmed at ‘BB-‘, while the short-term ratings of all these entities remain at ‘B’.

S&P also upgraded the banking group’s national-scale rating in Kazakhstan from kzBBB+ to kzA-.

According to the agency, Freedom’s comprehensive enhancements to its group-wide risk management and compliance framework were the key drivers behind the rating upgrades.

«In our view, the group’s enterprise-wide risk management and compliance framework will enable it to effectively monitor and control risks across the organization, including sanctions compliance, cybersecurity, reputational, regulatory, and cryptocurrency-related risks,» S&P Global Ratings said.

The Stable outlook reflects S&P’s expectation that Freedom will continue to effectively identify, monitor, and manage risks as its business expands.

«We expect the Freedom group to continue developing both its financial and non-financial businesses through additional equity capital injections without materially weakening its capitalization,» the agency noted.

Freedom’s unified compliance framework enables the group to oversee sanctions compliance and anti-money laundering (AML) requirements across all 22 jurisdictions in which it operates while maintaining relationships with more than 40 regulatory authorities.

S&P also highlighted the group’s strong capitalization despite continued investments in telecommunications and lifestyle businesses.

«We expect the group to maintain strong capitalization over the next one to two years despite ongoing investments in its telecommunications and lifestyle businesses. We also continue to view Freedom’s earnings as strong. The group’s three-year average core earnings to risk-weighted assets ratio (March 2024 through March 2026) remains around 2.2%, which is still high by international standards,» the agency said.

S&P described Freedom as one of Kazakhstan’s leading digital fintech ecosystems. Today, the companies within Freedom Holding Corp. serve more than 8 million clients, while the broader Freedom ecosystem, including partner companies, reaches 14 million users.

Freedom’s Business Continues to Expand

For the latest financial year, Freedom Holding Corp. reported net income of $153.3 million, up 101% from $76.2 million a year earlier. Total revenue reached $2.19 billion. Since the company’s listing on the NASDAQ under the ticker FRHC in 2019, revenue has increased more than 26-fold.

Total assets grew by 33% year-on-year to $13.16 billion, driven by the expansion of the company’s proprietary investment portfolio and growth in client brokerage assets. Basic earnings per share reached $2.56.

The group also continued to expand its customer base across all major business segments. Brokerage clients increased by 26% to 858,000, while the banking business doubled its customer base to 5.03 million. Insurance clients reached 1.1 million, and customer numbers across other business lines increased by 83% year-on-year.

Freedom is also continuing its international expansion. Earlier this year, the company applied for a banking license in France. Founder and CEO Timur Turlov previously announced plans to invest up to €500 million in establishing a digital bank and developing digital financial infrastructure in the country. The company views France as a strategic gateway for expanding its ecosystem across the European Union.

Freedom already operates in Europe through its Freedom24 investment platform and Freedom Finance Europe, a Cyprus-licensed brokerage serving clients across the EU. As of the end of 2025, Freedom’s European business had more than 450,000 active clients with $11 billion in client assets under administration. The group also operates offices in nine European countries and continues to expand its regional presence.

In Turkey, Freedom received a brokerage license in 2025 and later signed an agreement to acquire 99.32% of Turkish Bank A.Ş. Upon completion of the transaction, the company will gain its own banking platform in a market of approximately 90 million people.

According to Timur Turlov, investments in the Turkish banking and brokerage businesses could reach approximately $300 million. The company’s goal is to build a digital financial ecosystem in Turkey based on the model successfully developed in Kazakhstan.

Freedom also plans to export its Freedom SuperApp, which currently serves more than 6 million users in Kazakhstan, to international markets, starting with Turkey and later expanding into Europe.