Kenes Rakishev

Rakishev has frequently appeared in photographs with Chechen despot Ramzan Kadyrov.[4]

In 2014, Rakishev obtained a stake in BTA Bank from the Kazakh government, which had temporarily been nationalized by the Kazakh dictator Nursultan Nazarbayev.[4] Nazarbayev seized BTA Bank from Kazakhstani billionaire and pro-democracy activist Mukhtar Ablyazov who feuded with Nazarbayev.[4] Rakishev obtained a controlling stake in the company.[4] The main assets of the company were its claims against Ablyazov, estimated at $6 billion.[4]

On February 6, 2014, JSC Kazkommertsbank and Kenes Rakishev reached a final agreement to acquire 46.5% of the shares of JSC BTA Bank each from JSC National Welfare Fund Samruk-Kazyna. The acquisition and subsequent merger of BTA and KKB were expected to create the largest universal bank in the region, creating a large-scale diversified institution with an assets more than 1.5x larger than the next competitor.

On February 14, 2014, Rakishev became the new chairman of Kazakhstan-based BTA Bank's board of directors. The decision was made during the extraordinary meeting of the bank's shareholders.

On January 19, 2015, by the decision of the extraordinary meeting of JSC Kazkommertsbank shareholders, Rakishev was elected as the new member of the board of directors, representing the shareholders' interests. In March 2015 he has become the large shareholder of JSC Kazkommertsbank, controlling the 16,02% of the shares by the acquiring 127 777 704 of the ordinary shares. By the beginning of August 2015, Rakishev increased its stake in Kazkommertsbank to 28,67% and then announced the preliminary agreement with Alnair Capital Holding (another large shareholder of the bank, controlling 28,08% of its shares) to combine their respective shareholdings in Kazkommertsbank. As a result of the proposed transaction, Rakishev would acquire legal ownership over the parent entity of JSC Alnair Capital Holding, becoming its General Partner and, as such, would effectively acquire control over voting and other rights of Alnair's shareholding in Kazkommertsbank (controlling 56.75% of bank's shares in total). On December 29, 2015, the above-mentioned deal was closed.[20] Rakishev became Alnair Capital Holding's General Partner. Thus, the amount of shares under his control grew to 56,75 %.

In April 2016 Rakishev significantly increased his stake in Kazkommertsbank by reaching agreement with Mr. Nurzhan Subkhanberdin and JSC Central Asian Investment Company (CAIC) on acquisition of common shares of the Bank owned by Mr. Subkhanberdin and CAIC.[21] Under the terms of this transaction, Rakishev acquired 115,486,789 common shares from CAIC. As a result, Rakishev's direct holding in KKB increased from 28.67% to 43.15%, and he directly and indirectly (through JSC Qazaq Financial Group) controls 71.23% of KKB common shares. Soon after the deal announcement Rakishev was elected as the Kazkommertsbank's chairman of the board of directors.[22]